


A single man in possession of a good fortune

by SlantedKnitting



Series: big bangs and challenges [16]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Character, F/M, M/M, Modern Era, Multi, Reality TV, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-14 01:44:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 43,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20592614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlantedKnitting/pseuds/SlantedKnitting
Summary: Arthur is the first openly bisexual Leading Man on the popular dating show,Most Eligible, where he’s meant to find his one true love—and get engaged. He comes to the show with the goal of finding a wife, but he still has to date all of the male contestants. And one of them, a certain Merlin, keeps making it harder and harder to stick to his original plans. Arthur knows what he wants though, and he’s pretty such it’s Mithian. Or is it Elena? Could it be Gwaine? Maybe it’s actually Merlin after all? What a pickle.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [ART: A Single Man in Possession of a Good Fortune](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20529353) by [Merlocked18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlocked18/pseuds/Merlocked18), [SlantedKnitting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlantedKnitting/pseuds/SlantedKnitting). 

> Firstly, incredible thanks as always to my fantastic beta, [ji-ang](https://ji-ang.tumblr.com/) who helped me turn this fic into something I actually like (and hopefully something likable by others!). Secondly, more incredible thanks to [Merlocked18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlocked18/pseuds/Merlocked18) for agreeing to work with me on this and for bringing these boys to life in beautiful, vivid colors. I adore your work and I feel so blessed that you were willing to team up with me! Lastly, even more incredible thanks to the mods for running this awesome fest again and again. ACBB is a gift to the fandom and you are much appreciated.

Arthur took as thorough a shower as he could. He scrubbed shampoo into his scalp several times to eliminate any and all chances of dandruff, washed behind his ears until his skin was burning, and used so much body wash that his lungs were starting to protest the strong chemical smell emanating from his pores.

When the water started to cool down, he rinsed off one last time and stepped out of the shower to shave. He forced himself to go slowly and to focus, trying to think only of the blade, the shaving cream, the curves and angles of his face. He needed a clean shave, and he needed to not cut himself up in the process. He was undoubtedly going to shower again within the next few hours—it was hot in Sicily, and he had never been so nervous before—but he only had one chance to give himself a smooth shave.

It took several attempts because his hands kept shaking, but eventually he was satisfied with his efforts and patted himself dry. When he emerged from the only private room in his hotel suite, wearing nothing under his fluffy bathrobe, he was greeted by the usual sight of two camera men, his favourite sound guy, and a producer.

He said nothing to the crew but rather sat on the edge of the large sofa facing the balcony doors, careful that the robe was covering his lap appropriately, and picked up the jar of mixed nuts that had been sitting on the floor. He looked out at the sea as he snacked, wondering what in the hell he was doing.

Arthur had never imagined himself on a show like _Most Eligible_. He’d watched it with his sister and her friends, made fun of the ridiculous romantic escapades of the contestants, even joined in a few betting pools on the chances of the Leading Man or Lady finding real, lasting love. He’d bought into the entertainment factor of the show—it was escapism at best, and it never failed to make him feel at least a little better about his own lacklustre history with love. But he hadn’t bought into the obvious lie that it could actually help ordinary people find their true loves in only a few short months.

Yet, somehow, here he was. He could recount the steps it had taken to get to this point—a drunken argument with Morgana that was followed by an ill-advised bet, a repressed need to rebel and prove some kind of point to his father, a friend with impressive video editing skills, a few moments of awkward honesty in his interviews, and… and that was all it took, apparently. He knew the logistics, but he still didn’t know how he’d got to this place, to the point where he was definitely feeling something—something real, something intense, something terrifyingly like love—for the sweet girl he and numerous other men had been pursuing for the past few months.

He knew it might just be the show—the novelty of it, the heightened feeling of being on display and going along with the absurd plots, the pressure from the producers, the way everything was kind of magical—but he couldn’t explain away that feeling in his chest whenever he thought about Gwen and what might happen if she ended up choosing him in a few short hours.

It was so close to the end, and he could feel himself starting to panic. He wanted to be with her, but he was more frightened by that than he wanted to admit. Had he really given himself up to this bizarre alternate ‘reality’ so much that he was actually in love with this woman?

There was only one other man left—Lance, someone Arthur had grown to like and respect a great deal over the past weeks—and, despite the depth of his own feelings for her and his hopes that she would pick him in the end, every time Arthur saw him with Gwen, he felt like he knew what was going to happen. He knew that Lance was something really special, and he knew that Gwen saw that, too. It was obvious, it seemed.

The only way to find out was to let it play out and hope she chose him and see how their relationship panned out back in their normal lives, away from the cameras and producers and other men. He wanted to try to make it work between them. He wanted it a lot.

Their last date had gone so well. They’d played in the sea together and cuddled on the beach and got drunk on champagne and kissed as the sun set in brilliant, sappy colours. It had been the perfect climax to their courtship, and it had been the first time, even after meeting each other’s families and spending an entire night alone and without the cameras, that Arthur had allowed himself to acknowledge the full extent of his feelings for her.

He knew that she cared for him. He knew she wasn’t just keeping up appearances for the dramatics of the show. She was kinder than that. She had been falling for him, too.

It was just a matter of who she had fallen for _more_—him or Lance. Who had dragged her down further, who had captured her to the point where she couldn’t let go.

Arthur had done as much as he could. He’d stayed true to himself and been sceptical most of the time, but he’d fallen for her anyway, and she, seeing his true, flawed self, had fallen for him, too.

In a few hours, he’d shower again and get dressed to meet her on the beach. Lance would do the same—either before or after him, depending on Gwen’s decision.

He knew she’d already made her choice. She’d probably made it days if not weeks ago. His fate was sealed and there was nothing left to but sit on the sofa and wait and think.

He didn’t know what he wanted. His heart wanted to be with Gwen, and his brain wanted to be back in the rational world where relationships were built over the span of more than a few weeks. The fact that he was so torn and that he’d actually managed to fall for this woman was the scariest part of all.

When there was nothing left in the jar but dust and crumbs, Arthur washed his hands and dressed in something casual.

As soon as he was presentable, two more producers arrived in his suite and began prepping him for the day’s schedule. He would do an interview in his room, then out on the balcony, then down on the beach, and then he’d be given time to get ready to meet with Gwen. He was eager to have some concrete tasks to focus on, even if they did involve talking about what he was thinking and feeling as he waited for Gwen to announce her intentions.

Arthur let some of the crew dote on him for a few minutes as they tried to fix up his hair and hook up his microphone, but, before the interview could start, there was a knock on the door.

The two newly arrived producers looked at each other with barely concealed grins and pulled aside the producer who had been in Arthur’s rooms all morning. They whispered excitedly in the kitchen, and Arthur cracked his knuckled nervously. He was used to goofy surprises on this show, but he wasn’t in the mood.

After a minute or so, one of the producers opened the door to reveal Gwen and her own crew out in the hallway. Arthur’s heart tried to jump and sink at the same time, making him feel slightly strangled.

Why was she here?

Gwen smiled at Arthur, giving nothing away, and wordlessly invited him out on the balcony. Arthur followed, trying to swallow the painful lump in his throat. Behind them, a lone crew member carrying both a camera and boom set himself up in the corner of the balcony.

“How are you?” she asked, looking out at the sea.

“I’m nervous,” Arthur answered, not wanting to waste time with small talk. “What’s going on?”

Gwen licked her lips. Arthur felt his throat closing up, hot tears already prickling in the corners of his eyes. He cleared his throat and pretended to be bothered by the glare of the midday sun, trying to give himself a few seconds to rein in his emotions. He could handle this. This was probably for the best.

“Arthur, I want…” She turned to face him. “I want you know how much you mean to me and how wonderful you’ve been through all of this.”

Arthur nodded, looking somewhere just past her shoulder, trying not to have a complete breakdown on camera.

“I didn’t want to make you wait any longer than you had to,” she continued quietly, her voice breaking. “I’m so sorry.”

Arthur knew she wasn’t only apologising for breaking his heart. Gwen was apologising for what the show had forced her to do, for stringing him along after she’s already chosen Lance, for making him think that he still had a chance with her when he really, really didn’t.

Not trusting his voice, Arthur pulled Gwen in for a hug. He closed his eyes and tried to erase the camera man standing less than two feet away and the feeling of the producers staring at him from inside. He tried to focus on the woman in the arms and how much he had wanted to be with her. He had thought she was the one.

“You’re going to make someone very happy someday,” she said, her voice slightly muffled as she spoke into his chest.

Arthur pressed a kiss to her forehead and took a stop back. He brushed the tears off his cheeks as quickly as he could and then reached for her hands.

“Thank you for everything,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Gwen moved forward for another hug, and Arthur held her tightly until the moment faded and he began realising, slowly, that he was finally going to be able to go home and settle back into his pre-_Most Eligible_ life. He was ready.

Gwen kissed him on the cheek before leaving, and then all Arthur had to do before getting into the van to the airport was pack up his suit and sit through a brief interview with one of the executive producers. He let her make him cry—he wasn’t against putting on a good show—and then he was gone. Less than fifteen hours later, he was back in his London flat with nothing but memories and time to kill.

~~~~

“I never in a million years thought I would be here,” Arthur said, looking just to the left of the camera where his favourite producer, Leon, was sitting. “It’s kind of unreal to think that I’ll soon be dating so many people, and that one of them could be the person I marry. It’ll be interesting to be on the other side of this.”

He imagined they would use this as a voiceover for his intro package on the series premiere, maybe on top of footage of him in the shower or shaving or working out—something to show off what a catch he was.

“Talk about Gwen’s series,” Leon prompted.

Arthur took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“Being on the other end of this last year was one of the most amazing and intense experiences of my life. I came into it tentatively open to the idea of finding love, but sort of thinking that it would never happen for me, that I wasn’t going to be the lucky one. And, I guess, in the end, I wasn’t the lucky one, but I learned a lot. I learned that it is possible to find real love in a situation like this, that it is possible to develop real feelings for the people you meet here, and that it is possible for _me_.”

Leon looked behind him at one of the other producers, who was mouthing something at him.

“Okay,” he said, turning back around. “You know we have to talk about it.”

“If you’re going to refer to it as ‘it’ the whole series, then we’re going to have a problem.”

Leon smiled bashfully. “Fair. Can you talk about the moment you came out to Gwen? What was it like, what spurred you to do it, how did you feel in the moment and afterwards?”

Arthur closed his eyes for a moment, trying to take himself back to that day.

“Last series,” he started, “I was dating Gwen. As much as I liked her, I didn’t think it was really going to go anywhere—I was a sceptic. But as more and more time went on, I realised that there was actually something between us. I realised I had feelings for her, and they were real, and I didn’t want to hide myself from her. I can’t be in a relationship with someone if they don’t know who I really am. So I made the decision that I… I had to tell her. I had to tell her that I’m bisexual. It’s part of who I am, it’s part of my history, it’s always going to be something that matters to me.

“It was terrifying, in that moment,” Arthur continued. “I didn’t know how she was going to react. I didn’t know how my family or friends were going to react once they saw that moment played out on the telly. I didn’t know what I was going to do if it didn’t go well. But, really, Gwen’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, so of course her response was positive. She thanked me for opening up to her, and that was sort of it. It was a small moment, really, but an incredibly important one for me.”

“And how was it knowing you’d just come out on national television?” Leon asked. “How was it when you got home and saw your family and friends?”

“I don’t think I would have been able to come out to Gwen if I wasn’t already out to everyone else in my life,” Arthur explained. “It wasn’t news to anyone, although I think everyone was surprised to see me blurting it out in such a public forum. Normally I’m… more private, I guess. It took me a long time to tell the people in my life, so I’m sure it was strange for them to watch me tell someone in front of the entire country.”

“How are you feeling about being the first openly bisexual _Most Eligible_ Leading Man in the history of the show?”

“It feels surreal. I really wasn’t expecting this. It never really crossed my mind, even when I was coming out to Gwen, that this could be the ultimate outcome of that moment. I feel honoured, I feel nervous, I feel like I have a lot of responsibility to represent my community well.”

Leon nodded and looked behind him again. “Okay,” he said, turning back to Arthur. “And what are you looking for? What kind of partner do you want? Do you have a preference for which gender you end up with?”

“No preference,” Arthur said quickly even though that was a lie. “I’m looking for someone fun, someone adventurous. Someone who is kind, someone who can make me laugh. I’m looking for someone who fits into my life, and whose life I fit into in return. I want someone who makes me feel whole, someone who will stick around through the hard parts, someone who knows what they want and isn’t afraid to go after it. Hopefully I’ll be what that person wants as well. This is a two-way street, and I’m looking for an equal partner.”

He was also specifically looking for a wife. As much as Arthur liked to pretend otherwise, his father actually hadn’t been happy or supportive when Arthur had come out in such a public way. He’d known of Arthur’s orientation for years, but he had never liked it when Arthur dated men. And Arthur didn’t want to spend the rest of his life at odds with his father. He knew he could be perfectly happy with a woman, and that was his goal. He wanted to be at peace with his family. He wanted that picture-perfect life.

“What are your hopes for the series?” Leon continued. “What do you want at the end of this?”

Arthur took a deep breath. “At the end of all this, I want to be with the one I’m meant to be with forever. I’m ready for love, I’m ready for marriage, I’m ready to commit myself to someone. I’m looking for a life-long partner. I want that unconditional, unexplainable, undeniable love. I want to feel that for someone else, and I hope I’m lucky enough to have someone else feel that towards me.”

Leon flashed a smile and leaned forward to pat Arthur on the knee. “You’ll knock ‘em dead, mate.” He settled back in his chair. “A few quick things for you. We’ve decided we’re going to start you out with 30 people.”

Arthur blinked. “30… contestants?” he asked. When he’d been on Gwen’s series, there had been 20 men vying for her attentions. Arthur had thought that was a lot, but 30?

Leon nodded. “We wanted to give you a wide range of people.”

“Mission accomplished,” Arthur muttered. “I’ll never be able to remember that many names.”

Leon just chuckled. “You’ll work it out. I also wanted to remind you—this is a show. You know what people watch this for.”

“I do,” Arthur said warily, not sure where Leon was going.

“You’re going to form real relationships, but probably not with everyone. But you can’t just ignore the ones you don’t find promising. That’s not good television.”

“I’m not going to ignore anyone,” Arthur protested. “I’m not that cruel.”

“That’s not what I’m getting at,” Leon assured him. “What I mean is, there are going to be people you like, people you want to spend time with, and people that don’t do it for you. It’s your job to obfuscate all that and make us think you like everyone. Otherwise there’s no mystery at the end about who you’re going to choose.”

“I understand how the show works,” Arthur said, annoyed at having it said so explicitly. He knew he was going to have to fudge some relationships, some drama, some connections, but he didn’t necessarily like it, and he certainly didn’t want to negotiate what it should look like.

“I know.” Leon flashed him a smile. “You’ll knock ‘em dead, like I said.”

~~~~

Arthur couldn’t believe that this was actually, finally happening. He was standing in front of a mansion in a perfectly tailored suit, waiting to meet several dozen men and women who were all there to date him. And, at the end of this, he was going to get engaged to one of them.

Kilgharrah, the old and sassy _Most Eligible_ host, came over and clapped him on the back. “Are you ready to begin?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Kilgharrah gave him a wicked grin. “Here comes the first limo.”

The host disappeared into the producers’ tent farther down the drive, and Arthur turned to watch the car pull up. He took a deep breath to steady himself, clasped his hands in front of himself, and waited.

The first person out of the limo was a button-nosed blonde woman with a sweet smile. She wore a long, light blue bedazzled dress and gave Arthur a once-over as she approached.

“Hi,” Arthur said, rather taken by her curls. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Vivian,” she said, letting him hug her. “I’m so glad it’s you.”

Something in the way she said it made Arthur think it wasn’t quite true. Maybe she’d been hoping for one of the other rejected contestants from Gwen’s series.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Arthur said. “I’ll see you inside?”

Vivian nodded and, giving his hand a perfunctory squeeze, headed into the mansion.

Arthur turned back to the limo and reset himself.

The next person out was a tall, muscular man with short hair. He towered over Arthur as he introduced himself as Percy, and after him there was a seemingly endless string of men and women that all blended together, leaving Arthur exhausted and feeling like his brain had gone cross-eyed. He couldn’t remember the last time he had met so many people at once, and he couldn’t remember a single name.

He was excited, though. No one was standing out as exceptional yet, but no one was standing out in a bad way yet, either. Everyone was beautiful and nice and bubbling with joy at the situation. It was infectious, and it kept Arthur going as the parade of people continued.

“How has it been so far?” Kilgharrah asked, appearing at his side halfway through the process.

“Amazing,” Arthur said. It was a bit of an overstatement, but he still had high hopes for the evening.

Another limo pulled up—Arthur wasn’t sure if it was the fourth or the fifth, and he prepared himself for another round of introductions.

The limo door opened, and a man nearly fell out of it. He righted himself quickly and gave Arthur an embarrassed smile. The man was—well, _gorgeous_ might have been too strong of a word, but he wasn’t bad looking, and his smile was really something special. His ears stood out under his mop of brown hair, and his eyes were a bright, enticing blue.

Arthur blinked to snap himself out of it and plastered on a smile as the man approached.

“Hi,” the man said. “I’m…”

Arthur waited, amused.

“Merlin,” the man finally said, giving another embarrassed smile. “I’m Merlin. I’m nervous.”

“Don’t be,” Arthur said graciously. He pulled Merlin in for a hug, closing his eyes against how _good_ the man smelled. “I’m Arthur.”

“It’s so good to meet you,” Merlin said as he pulled back. “If you come find me later I’ll have something for you.”

Arthur didn’t know what Merlin could possibly have for him, but he was certainly intrigued enough to find out.

“All right,” he agreed. “I’ll come find you later, then.”

Merlin gave one more smile and then headed into the mansion.

“Yikes,” Arthur muttered, hoping his mic wouldn’t pick that up. Merlin was the first person who had really caught his attention that whole night.

Arthur managed to get through the last of the limos, although no one else stood out as much as Merlin had, and then Kilgharrah escorted him inside so he could start having proper conversations with everyone he had just met.

A woman with long light brown hair—Sophia, she reminded him—was the first to pull him back outside so they could have a few moments together. She asked what Arthur needed from her, and he encouraged her just to be herself, to be honest, and to be open to the possibilities.

After her was an eager young guy called Mordred who shared his love of football, a woman named Elena who told him she was trans and was excited to come out like he had, a man with a disarming smile whose name Arthur forgot almost immediately, the tall guy—Percy—and then Vivian, the woman who had been first out of the limos.

It was overwhelming, and very quickly Arthur realised he had no idea what he was doing or how he was going to manage an entire television series as the Leading Man. He felt like he was drowning. There were cameras everywhere, producers rushing here and there, Kilgharrah lurking nearby every time Arthur looked around, and so, _so_ many people vying for his attention.

He couldn’t seem to get more than five minutes with anyone in particular, and it was difficult to try to build any connections that way.

After more than two hours, Arthur finally found a moment between conversations to run to the loo. He took longer than was strictly necessary, relishing in the moments alone and away from the chaos. When he felt he couldn’t risk hiding for any longer, he walked around the back of the mansion to take the long way back to the contestants. As he approached the entrance, he heard some of the women up on the balcony.

“I mean, I know he’s bi, but like, _really_? Where are they going to put her? Is she supposed to room with us?”

Arthur’s heart sank as he realised they were talking about Elena. He looked up and tried to figure out who was up there, not wanting anyone who would partake in that kind of conversation anywhere near a competition to marry him.

“Hey,” someone—a man—broke into the conversation. “Come on, that’s enough.”

There were some quiet scoffs and then a woman said, “What do you care?”

“I care because I just spent the last 30 minutes talking to Elena, and she’s a perfectly lovely woman. A lot nicer than any of you lot. And there’s no reason she shouldn’t room with any of you, other than the fact that you’re all prats.”

“You can’t speak to us that way!”

“No? But you can speak that way about her?”

There were some more quiet scoffs and then the sound of heels stomping away as the group dispersed. Arthur turned around and waved over a producer.

“I need you to find out who was just up there,” he said, and the producer nodded. “I’m not having any bigotry on my series, all right?” The producer looked confused but nodded again and rushed off.

Arthur sighed and waited another moment or two before stepping back inside the mansion. Almost immediately, Merlin appeared at his side and asked to speak with him.

“How’s your night going?” Merlin asked as they settled on a bench outside.

“It’s incredible,” Arthur lied. “How are you?”

“Still nervous,” Merlin said, smiling widely.

Arthur had to hold himself back from returning the smile too enthusiastically. It was contagious.

“Tell me about yourself,” Arthur said, resorting to the opening line he’d been using all evening.

“I live in London,” Merlin said, and Arthur’s mind immediately jumped to _neither of us would have to move, then_. “I’m a librarian.”

“Interesting,” Arthur said even though it probably wasn’t. “What brings you here? What are you looking for?”

Merlin considered the question, looking up at the sky and giving Arthur a lovely view of his long neck.

“Someone who knows how to stay true to himself,” he answered.

Arthur nodded. “Yeah. Me, too.”

Merlin grinned and started to say something else but got cut off by another contestant coming over to steal Arthur away. It was Sophia, who he’d already talked to, but he let her drag him off anyway. He was glad for the excuse to get away from Merlin.

Merlin actually was gorgeous. It took a bit to get used to the angles of his face and his messy hair and his big ears, but once you got past all that, he was really something to look at.

But Arthur had made up his mind before the series had started. He wanted to end up with a woman, and he couldn’t let anyone distract him from that goal, no matter how pretty they were.

Now was the time to find a wife. And he could snog some attractive men along the way, as he’d been doing his entire adult life, but as long as he kept his eyes on the prize then he would get to the end of this with the woman of his dreams.

“Arthur!”

Arthur looked up to see the producer from earlier waving him over.

Grateful for the excuse to leave Sophia, who was a little too intense for his taste, Arthur extracted himself from their conversation and headed over to the production tent.

“You wanted to know who was on the balcony?” the producer asked. She gestured at a small screen behind her and Arthur watched the confrontation take place without sound.

Merlin had been the one to step in and defend Elena.

He took note of the women who had been up there with Merlin and went to find Leon to tell him in no uncertain terms that they were to go home during the Candle Ceremony.

Leon didn’t look pleased, but he knew better than to push Arthur on a point like this, and, at the end of the night, Arthur kept everyone except the women who had been part of that conversation.

~~~~

Arthur decided to take Elena out for the first single date. She seemed fun and like she wouldn’t take the date or herself too seriously, and Arthur needed that after the first night. It had felt like an out of body experience meeting so many people and having so many of them come on so strongly. Elena had made an impression though, if only because she was clearly incredibly brave to come on a show like this while being openly trans, and Arthur wanted to get to know her better.

“Where are we going?” Elena asked excitedly when they were settled in a fancy car with Arthur at the wheel.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Can I guess?”

Arthur glanced out at the group of other contestants, who had come to watch the beginning of their date. He gave them an awkward wave and pulled out of the drive, ready to be away from the horde.

“You can try,” he said, following the production van.

“Are we mud wrestling?”

Arthur snorted. “Close. Have you ever seen Turkish oil wrestling?”

“No,” Elena said, gamely playing along. “What’s that?”

“It’s a sight to behold. The guys wear these strange pants and stick their hands down each other’s backsides.”

“Why?”

“No idea,” Arthur admitted. “I’ve only seen photos.”

“And you decided to experience for the first time with me? I’m flattered.”

Arthur grinned and didn’t move away when Elena reached over to hold his hand.

“Tell me more about yourself,” Arthur prompted after a few minutes of silent driving. “Better yet, start from the beginning. I honestly don’t remember much from that first night.”

“I was the one who was trans.”

“Well, I remembered that.” Arthur looked over and gave her a smile. “I’m sure there’s more to you though.”

“A bit.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “I teach sports medicine at a university.”

“Right, right,” Arthur said, vaguely remembering. “And you’ve never broken a bone.”

Elena laughed. “No, I haven’t. Fingers crossed.”

Arthur launched into the story of how he’d broken his arm as a child during a rowdy game of football, and by the time he had finished explaining all the gross details Elena asked for, they were in the country and driving along a narrow dirt road.

“So, where are we really going?” Elena asked.

“You’re still welcome to guess.”

“Dairy farm?”

“That’s a better guess than your first.”

“Regular farm?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Arthur said, flicking on the turn signal and following the production van down an even narrower dirt road.

Elena gasped as some stables came into view. “Are we riding horses?”

Arthur shrugged and parked on some grass next to the stables. They got out of the car, and Elena immediately rushed over to greet the horses. Arthur let a producer pull him aside for a quick interview.

“What do you have planned for the day?” he prompted.

“We’re going horseback riding, which I’m really excited about. Elena seems like a lot of fun, so hopefully this is a good date for us.”

“How are you feeling about her so far?”

“Elena’s very funny,” Arthur said honestly. “I like how excited she is about this. I think we’ll have the perfect day.”

Satisfied, the producer let him go over to Elena and the horses. They got a quick safety lesson and then were assigned two beautiful white horses to ride through the pastures.

“Have you ever done this before?” Arthur asked as he struggled to mount his horse.

“Of course I have.” Elena got up into her saddle easily. “Haven’t you?”

“Not since I was about 10,” Arthur admitted. He finally got his leg over with a grunt and tried to shift around to find a comfortable position. After a minute, he realised there was no comfortable position.

“Do you know how much horses can pull?”

“What do you mean?” Arthur pressed his heels into the horse as he had been instructed, and it began slowly trotting towards a field.

“A draft horse can pull up to 8,000 pounds, but _two_ draft horses can pull up to 24,000 pounds,” Elena said, deftly manoeuvring her horse to walk besides his.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Arthur said, doing the math in his head.

“And if the horses are _friends_ who have worked together before, they can pull up to 32,000.”

Arthur chuckled. “That can’t be true.”

“I heard it on a podcast,” she admitted. “But I like to believe it’s true. Horse friendship is a powerful, majestic thing.”

“That’s beautiful,” Arthur said, laughing. “Truly.”

Elena reached out, and Arthur took her hand, and then they rode together. He felt absurd holding hands while riding horseback, but it was sweet, and he figured it would make for some good romantic shots for the cameramen following them, so he let it happen.

After making a few rounds on their separate horses, Elena joined Arthur on his horse, partially because she was a better rider and partially because the producers thought it would be good bonding. She sat in front, and Arthur held onto her waist as she immediately made the horse start off on a much faster pace.

Arthur hooked his chin over Elena’s shoulder.

“Are you having a good time?” he asked, even though he knew the answer.

“I’m having the best time,” she confirmed. “How are you holding up back there?”

“I’m good,” Arthur said, holding her a little tighter.

After getting the horse up to an almost scary speed, Elena turned it around and rode them casually back to the stables like it was nothing.

“When’s the last time you went riding?” Arthur asked as she slid off the saddle.

“Like two months ago.” She held out her hand, and Arthur took it as he dismounted.

“Ow,” he said, bending over a little as his thighs started shaking at being back in a normal position.

Elena laughed and rubbed his back. “Sore?”

“Is adult-onset bowleggedness a thing?” he asked, taking a few wobbly steps.

“Probably not.”

“Good.” Arthur leaned against the boot of the fancy car, and Elena followed, pressing into him. “Thanks for showing me the ropes,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Thanks for letting me.”

Arthur considered her for a moment—considered the genuinely good time he’d had and how she made him laugh and almost forget the situation he was in—and gave her a kiss.

As soon as they broke away, the producers stepped in to pull them aside for interviews. Arthur gave Elena’s hand a squeeze as they were separated, and he was brought back over to the stables.

“How’s your date so far?” a producer asked.

“I’m having a really good time,” Arthur said, glancing over at where Elena was also chatting to a camera. “Elena really knows her way around a horse. She definitely showed me up. It was fun, though. I’m excited about her.”

“Is the date going as you’d hoped?”

“The date’s going fantastically. I’m really glad I chose Elena as my first single date. She’s a lot of fun, and she’s not afraid to take the reins—literally—and I’m really impressed with her so far.”

The producer asked a few more similar questions, trying to get more sound bites out of him, and then finally let him into the van. Another producer drove Elena back to the mansion, and Arthur was dropped off at his bungalow. He took a shower and then waited for dinner, sitting on the sofa massaging his legs and trying to get his thighs to forgive him.

He was given a small meal before being whisked away to ‘dinner’ where he and Elena would sit at a table and not eat any of the food on it, because eating while talking on camera was apparently forbidden due to the visual and auditory nightmares of editing.

When he arrived at the restaurant—it had been completely cleared out except for one small table in the centre—Elena was already there, wearing a creme-coloured sparkly gown. Her hair was done up, and she looked nothing like the rugged outdoorsy girl she’d been that afternoon.

“You clean up nice,” Arthur said, greeting her with a hug.

“You, too.” Elena toyed with the lapels on his suit jacket before letting him step away so he could pull out a chair for her.

“May I ask you something? You can absolutely say no, I won’t push,” Arthur said, putting a napkin in his lap for no reason.

“You can ask,” Elena said, smiling graciously.

“What made you come here? I can’t imagine being out as trans is easy in an environment like this.”

“I am who I am,” Elena said simply. “I don’t see the point in hiding it.”

“No,” Arthur agreed. “Still, it’s very brave of you.”

Elena shrugged. “It was brave of you to come out as well.”

“Yes,” Arthur agreed again. “I suppose it was.”

“What was it like?”

Arthur reached for one of the glasses of wine that had been set out, glad that drinking was allowed even if eating wasn’t.

“It was a little terrifying,” he admitted. “To be honest, I really hadn’t planned for it. I thought, if anything, I would tell Gwen off-camera if I made it as far as the overnight dates. But… the longer I waited, the worse I felt about it, and I realised I couldn’t reasonably continue to date someone who didn’t know who I really am. I couldn’t wait for however long it would take to get to overnights, and if it was going to be a problem then I wanted to get it out of the way sooner rather than later.”

“Luckily it wasn’t a problem.”

“Luckily.”

Elena smiled and grabbed her own wine glass. “To bravery,” she said, holding it out. “And to being our best queer selves.”

Arthur grinned and knocked his glass against hers. He took a quick sip and then leaned around for a kiss.

“I had a really good time today,” he said, speaking low. “Thanks for that.”

“I had a good time, too.”

Arthur leaned back and took another drink, wondering if he could end up with Elena at the end. She was fun and pretty, and they got along very easily.

“Tell me about your past relationships,” he prompted, “since you know all about how my last one went.”

“My last boyfriend cheated on me,” Elena said with a sigh. “He wasn’t as nice as he thought he was.”

“Clearly not. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Elena shrugged. “He didn’t deserve me.”

“No,” Arthur said, loving Elena’s self-assurance. “He didn’t.” He glanced at the candle sitting on the table. He knew he should probably wait to give it to her until they’d talked more. He’d already made up his mind, though—he was definitely keeping her around—so he decided there wasn’t any point. “I have a question for you,” he said, and Elena grinned.

“What’s that?”

Arthur picked up the candle and held it between them. “I’ve had a really good time today,” he said. “I really appreciate your spirit, and I find your confidence really attractive.”

He paused, and Elena teased, “Thank you, but none of that was a question.”

Arthur laughed. “I’m nervous,” he admitted. “This is the first date candle I’m giving out.”

“If it helps, I’m definitely going to accept.”

Arthur grinned and leaned forward for a kiss. “Will you carry a torch for me?” he asked.

Elena nodded and took the candle before pulling Arthur in for another kiss.

The date was over shortly after that, and after another quick interview, Arthur was driven back to his bungalow for the evening. He curled up on the sofa with more wine, replaying the date in his head and trying to prepare himself for the next day.

Elena had been brilliant. Their date had been the best possible kick-off to this process, and Arthur felt a swell of gratitude towards her for making the day so easy. They had chemistry, and it was promising that he could start developing feelings for the contestants so early in the process. If he was going to find a wife here, he wanted—needed—the connection to be real. He didn’t want to force anything. He didn’t want to end up with the wrong person.

When his wine was gone and he was too tired to keep fretting about his position, Arthur took himself to bed and tried not to think too hard about what was in store for him the next day.

~~~~

The next afternoon, Arthur went on a group date with all of the men. They went bowling, which was fun enough. Arthur ended up on both teams to keep things fair, and the plan was for the losing team to go home and the winning team to accompany Arthur out for a cocktail hour.

Arthur got the opportunity to chat with everyone, although he favoured the team on the right lane and very quickly learned that Gwaine—the man whose disarming smile Arthur remembered from the first night—was hilarious, that Percy was somehow already Gwaine’s sidekick, that Mordred was horrible at bowling, and that Merlin was kind of adorably shy in a large group setting. None of the rest of the guys stood out, and Arthur was relieved when the right lane scored a higher game.

He tried not to get too invested, though. The men in the winning group were all gorgeous and fun, but, in the end, it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t planning to end up with any of them. He didn’t want to get engaged to a guy. He didn’t want to deal with the kind of strain that would put on his relationship with his father. He didn’t want to have to live with that kind of stress for the rest of his life. He just wanted to find real love with a beautiful woman and settle into the life that was expected of him.

In the meantime, though, he had to at least pretend to be interested in the male contestants.

After bowling was done, everyone was escorted back to the mansion—and Arthur to his bungalow—to change into appropriate evening attire and then shuttled back out to a rooftop bar.

“To the champions,” Arthur said when everyone had a drink in hand.

“To the champions,” the men chorused before clinking their glasses together and drinking.

“Shall we?” Gwaine asked, linking his arm with Arthur’s and guiding him away from the rest of the group without waiting for an answer.

Gwaine led Arthur around the back of the bar and they leaned against the low wall, taking in the view.

“Did you have a good time today?” Gwaine asked when Arthur didn’t immediately start the conversation.

“I did. You’re very competitive.”

“I’m competitive for a living,” Gwaine said, smiling.

Arthur tried to think back to the first night, but he could barely remember speaking with Gwaine at all.

“I play video games,” Gwaine reminded him, still smiling. “People want to watch me win.”

“Right,” Arthur said, still not really remembering. “That’s an odd job.”

“It is.”

“How would you even put that on a CV? Do you even have a job title?”

“I suppose I could list it as YouTuber, Twitch Streamer, whatever. I have a podcast as well. I don’t need a CV, though. I’ve made my own way just fine.”

Arthur couldn’t see the long-term prospects of Gwaine’s chosen career, but he wasn’t going to argue the point.

“What do you do again?” Gwaine asked.

“Software engineer. At a bank.”

“I imagine that would fit very nicely on a CV.”

Arthur couldn’t tell if Gwaine was taking the piss or not.

“What was your favourite part of today?” Gwaine asked after an awkward silence.

“Honestly, you were a big part of it. You’re kind of ridiculous.”

“In a good way?” Gwaine asked, grinning. His whole face crinkled up when he smiled, and he had very inviting lips. And excellent hair.

Arthur cleared his throat and looked away. “In a very good way.”

“Good. I had fun, too. Percy is terrifying, isn’t he? I don’t think he got anything less than a spare that whole game.”

“Maybe his wingspan puts him at an advantage.”

Gwaine pretended to consider that. “Maybe. Or maybe you’re an idiot.”

Arthur laughed, surprised. “Excuse me?”

Gwaine grinned again and leaned in for a kiss. Arthur let it happen, not particularly caring that the conversation had stopped making sense. Gwaine was attractive, and Arthur wasn’t going to protest having those inviting lips against his own.

“So,” Gwaine said once he’d pulled back. “_Now_ what was your favourite part of today?”

Arthur laughed and knocked his wine glass against Gwaine’s before taking a long drink.

He and Gwaine returned to the group, and Mordred grabbed him next and spent a few minutes rambling on about how he loved bowling even though he was absolute rubbish at it. He was very sweet and excitable, kind of like a puppy, and Arthur found his energy infectious.

Percy was next, and he opened their conversation with, “Did you have a good time today? Gwaine said he wasn’t sure. I had a good time. Gwaine’s a lot of fun, isn’t he?”

He sounded nervous, so Arthur decided they should walk instead of stand. He took Percy’s hand in his and slowly led the way to the other side of the building.

“I had a good time. You’re very good at bowling.”

“I grew up playing,” Percy said. “My family owned an alley.”

“Oh? That explains it.” Arthur looked over, smiling until he saw the look on Percy’s face. “You all right?”

There was a long pause, and Percy took his hand back. “Today was hard for me,” he admitted. “My family, the bowling alley… they’re all gone. There was a fire.”

Arthur stopped in his tracks, his blood starting to boil. He would have bet everything he owned that at least one of the producers had known about Percy’s family. And yet they’d forced him to go on the date anyway, without telling Arthur.

“I’m so sorry,” Arthur said. “I really am. I had no idea. I wouldn’t have made you—”

“I know,” Percy said, smiling a little. “It’s fine. I’m fine. Glad to be out of there and up here instead.”

Arthur nodded and followed Percy’s lead as he started walking again. They talked about nothing for a few more minutes, both of them careful to keep the conversation light and easy, and then Arthur went back to the group.

The only one left to talk to was Merlin.

Merlin gave Arthur a small smile from where he was stood talking to Gwaine, and then he excused himself and came over to where Arthur was getting a refill on his wine.

“Mind if we chat?” he asked, his eyes bright in the moonlight.

Arthur nodded and let Merlin lead him to a small garden he hadn’t noticed before.

“This is nice,” he said, reaching out to touch one of the flowers tied to a decorative arch.

“It is,” Merlin agreed.

“Did you have a nice time today?”

Merlin shrugged. “It was fun. I’m glad my team won. We haven’t really had much time to talk yet.”

“No,” Arthur agreed, feeling a little guilty that he hadn’t made the effort. If anything, he’d done the opposite. He didn’t want to lean into his attraction to Merlin. “Thanks for taking the initiative.”

“I wanted to let you know,” Merlin said, “that I’m gay. I know sometimes gay guys get weird about bisexuality and stuff, but I just wanted to let you know I’m not like that. I don’t care. Well, no, it’s not that I don’t care, that’s not true. I care because it’s a part of you. I guess I mean I’m not threatened by it. If anything, I’d be flattered if you chose me out of every man _and_ woman here.”

Arthur blinked, not sure what to say. Part of him thought it was ridiculous that Merlin felt the need to address his lack of biphobia, but part of him appreciated it. It wasn’t often he dated men who were willing to talk about it so openly. Usually it was something Arthur had to bring up himself.

“Thank you,” he said. “That’s good to know.”

Merlin nodded and took a sip of his wine.

“Look, I heard you, um, breaking up that conversation on the first night,” Arthur said, keeping his voice low in hopes the audio wouldn’t be usable for the show. “About Elena. I just wanted to thank you for standing up for her.”

Merlin looked surprised. “How did you hear that?”

“I was under the balcony when it happened.”

“I didn’t know anyone was there,” Merlin said, seeming a little embarrassed.

“All the same.”

“Is that why you sent those women home the first night?”

Arthur nodded, and Merlin smiled widely.

“That’s good.”

Arthur shrugged. “I wasn’t going to let them stay after that.”

“No,” Merlin agreed. “They shouldn’t have stayed.”

“Should we head back?” Arthur asked before they could hit another topic of conversation.

Merlin looked a little disappointed but didn’t protest and followed Arthur back to the rest of the group.

There was a lit candle sitting on the table everyone was gathered around, and Arthur took it as he sat down in the middle of everyone.

“I had a really good time today,” he said, smiling around at everyone as he sat down. “And I’m glad I got to spend more time with each of you tonight. I want to give this candle to someone who opened up to me and who really showed his strength, both physically and emotionally.” He turned to Percy, who was blushing. “Will you carry a torch for me?” Arthur asked, holding out the candle.

“Of course,” Percy said. He took the candle and cradled it in his hands, looking pleased.

The producers broke up the date pretty quickly after that, taking all the contestants aside for interviews. Arthur was grabbed as well, and he finished off his drink before turning towards the cameras.

“Percy really impressed me today,” he said. “It couldn’t have been easy for him at the bowling alley, but he went along with it and didn’t let it ruin the date or his mood. I really respect that about him, and I really appreciate him telling me about his family tonight. It couldn’t have been easy, but it’s important in this process to be really open, and he definitely did that. It’s still very early—this was only the first group date—but he very much stood out.”

“What about the other men?” the producer asked.

Arthur’s immediate thought was that Merlin was adorable, and that Merlin being adorable was a problem. He cast around for something else to say.

“I really enjoy Gwaine,” he said. “He’s hilarious, and that’s definitely a quality I’m looking for. I want someone who can make me laugh, who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, and he fits that bill perfectly.”

Satisfied with his speech, the producer shooed Arthur away so he could be taken back to his bungalow for the night. Arthur went to sleep immediately, exhausted from all the fun and not wanting to dwell too hard on any of the men he knew he wouldn’t end up with.

~~~~

After a long day spent doing in-depth interviews about everything that had happened so far, the next night was another cocktail party. This time it was with _everyone_, and it was set to end with a full Candle Ceremony where Arthur would have the opportunity to send home anyone except Elena and Percy, who were already safe with candles.

The first person to approach him was a woman named Mithian, who he literally couldn’t remember at all from the first night. He was tactful enough not to mention that, though, and he let her lead him away from the rest of the group.

“How was your week?” she asked sweetly as she guided him to sit with her on a bench.

“Good. How have you been?” He reached out to take one of her hands, which usually served to build at least a superficial connection.

“It’s been weird,” she said. “It’s all finally sinking in that I’m really here. With you.”

Arthur nodded. “I understand. When I was in your shoes, I think it took me, like, five weeks to really admit to myself that it was all happening.”

Mithian smiled, her face lighting up. She had a delicate bone structure, and her long brown hair made her pale skin sort of glow. She was pretty.

“What helped you manage?” she asked. “How did you focus?”

Arthur considered the question. The truth was that he had been enchanted by Gwen since the very first night, willing to give himself over to the drama of the process of the show, and very good at making friends with other men in the mansion to help keep him occupied during the down moments.

“It’s not easy,” he consoled her. “You have to be really sure about why you’re here.”

“I’m sure,” Mithian said, and she sounded it. “I’d like to get to know you better.”

“I’d like to get to know you, too.”

Mithian smiled and entertained his questions about her life—she was a software engineer, like him, and she lived in London as well—until they were interrupted by another contestant. And that started off the circus, leaving Arthur to juggle what felt like dozens of conversations that kept being cut-off right as things were getting comfortable.

By the end of the night, he was almost as exhausted as he had been after the first night when there had been even more people. He had managed to talk to everyone, though—except Merlin. Merlin hadn’t even approached him all night. Maybe he thought their conversation after bowling was enough for Arthur to know whether he wanted to keep Merlin around.

Arthur knew he could have grabbed Merlin himself to make sure they had time to speak, but he didn’t see the point. Merlin was attractive, but he certainly wasn’t who Arthur was going to end up with at the end of all this, so what did it matter if they didn’t talk?

What did it matter if he was disappointed in Merlin’s lack of interest?

Still, he couldn’t rightfully send Merlin home after they had talked about him standing up for Elena.

So, during the Candle Ceremony, Arthur sent home some of the men from the losing bowling team, plus some women whose names he was still having trouble remembering, and he kept Merlin for another week.

~~~~

Arthur chose Mordred for his second single date, mostly because Mordred was kind of hilarious, and because the producers requested he pick a man since his first date had been with a woman. He took Mordred to a water park, where they ran around getting completely soaked a hundred times over and then made out on the top of a log flume.

It was a fun day, followed by a slightly less fun dinner because it turned out Mordred actually was serious about the prospect of finding love on _Most Eligible_, but Arthur hadn’t developed any feelings for him over the course of their date.

“I grew up mostly on my own,” he said as they were sitting at their fake meal. “Sort of a it-takes-a-village approach since I lost my parents when I was young. So I had people, but… mostly I was on my own.”

“I’m sorry,” Arthur said. “That must have been hard.”

Mordred shrugged. “Sure, it was hard. It’s made me who I am, though.”

“It doesn’t seem like you let it affect you,” Arthur pointed out. “You’re one of the most cheerful people here.”

Mordred smiled easily. “Thanks. Yeah, I try to stay positive. You never know what the future might bring. I’m hopeful.”

He said it with a sort of gravity that made Arthur squirm. Arthur wasn’t really interested in Mordred like that. Mordred was hot and fun to spend time with, but that was it.

Nothing had gone wrong, though, so Arthur didn’t feel justified in sending Mordred home, and at the end of the night he gave Mordred a candle.

He fibbed his way through the post-date interviews, saying how wonderful Mordred was and keeping up with the illusion that he had equal feelings for all of the contestants. Afterwards, when he was curled up in bed trying to put the day out of his mind so he could fall asleep, Arthur wondered if he should feel guilty. He was lying to Mordred, to the cameras, to everyone. That was the point of the show, though, he told himself. All the contestants knew what they had signed up. They all knew the premise of the show, they all knew how unlikely it was that Arthur would end up choosing them, they all knew about the requisite lies and manufactured drama. Everyone was on the same page, and Arthur’s position was no different. He was along for the same ride and had to play by the same rules. And if that meant stretching the truth about his feelings for Mordred, then so be it. He just had to not lose sight of the people he did have real feelings for, and, at the end of this, he’d end up with one of them, and it would all be worth it.

~~~~

The next day, Arthur went on a group date with all of the women. They went to a tennis court and received lessons from someone supposedly famous, and then all the women got changed into too-short tennis skirts to play a few rounds. Arthur found the whole thing ridiculous, especially since he wasn’t ever paired up with any of them but instead relegated to the sidelines like a pervert. He tried to keep up his spirits, anyway. It was entertaining, at least, watching all the women attempt to play tennis.

Elena handily beat her first opponent, but then Mithian took down Elena with surprising skill. At the end of all the rounds, Sophia was deemed the winner, and she and Arthur were whisked off to a hot tub.

“Congratulations,” Arthur said once they were up to their necks in bubbling hot water. “Have you played before?”

“Not since school,” Sophia said. She had her hair pinned up, keeping it out of the water and showing off her soft features. She had a sort of classic beauty.

“Did you play a lot of sports in school?”

“No.”

Arthur nodded, casting around in his mind for another topic of conversation.

“I want you to know I’m very serious about this,” Sophia said, setting her gaze on Arthur. “I’m looking for a partner. I’m ready to get married.”

Arthur forced a smile. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. I am as well. What are you looking for in a partner?”

“Someone to conquer the world with.”

Arthur laughed even though Sophia didn’t look like she was joking.

After a few more minutes of stifled conversation, they were excused from the hot tub and driven back to the mansion and bungalow with the rest of the group. Arthur took a quick shower, changed into a suit, and then was driven back out for the cocktail hour.

Sophia was the first person to take him away from the group, before she was interrupted by Elena, who was interrupted by Sophia again, who was interrupted by Mithian, who was interrupted by Elena again. It went around and around and around until Arthur could barely remember which conversation he’d had with which woman.

He found the whole evening frustrating. He wanted to start building connections with these women, but he couldn’t manage more than five minutes—maybe ten if he was lucky—with any one of them. The only person he felt good about at the end of the night was Elena, and that was mostly because he’d already felt good about their relationship after their date.

The only one who didn’t approach him was Vivian. She kept shooting him steamy looks, though, and Arthur didn’t need much more than that to know he wanted to keep her around to try to get to know her better in the upcoming weeks. He gave the candle to Sophia, more because she had won the tennis matches than because he had enjoyed any of their conversations, and then the date was over.

“How was today?” Leon asked him once all the women were on their way home and Arthur was the only one left in the room.

“Today was a lot of fun,” Arthur forced himself to say. “I had a good time watching all the women play tennis. It was good to see them having a good time, too. Tonight was fun, although I wish I’d had more time with everyone. I’m starting to get to know everyone, but it’s a slow process.”

“You gave the candle to Sophia. How are you feeling about her?”

“Sophia really impressed me on the tennis courts today,” Arthur said. “I liked her competitive spirit and the way she made the most of everything, especially our time together. I got to know her a little better tonight, and she’s definitely someone I’m going to keep an eye on.”

That wasn’t entirely true. Sophia was beautiful, and she seemed nice enough, but Arthur hadn’t quite found anything he could connect with her on. She seemed very focused on her goal of finding a husband and less interested in getting to know Arthur as a person. At least, that’s how it felt, but Arthur was willing to keep her around for a while longer to see if he could really get her to open up.

~~~~

At the big cocktail party at the end of the week, Merlin was the first one to pull Arthur aside. He led Arthur around the back of the mansion to a small sofa set up near the pool.

“I realised I never gave you the gift I had for you the first night,” he said, pulling a small box out of his pocket.

Arthur remembered Merlin clumsily getting out of the limo that night and saying he had something for Arthur, but they hadn’t been able to talk for very long in the chaos of everyone vying for Arthur’s time.

“Oh. That’s very nice of you,” Arthur said as he took the box.

Inside was a small glass butterfly.

“I made it,” Merlin explained as Arthur took it out to examine.

“You _made_ it? How?”

“Glassblowing.”

“Glassblowing,” Arthur repeated, staring down at the butterfly. He couldn’t imagine the level of skill needed to make something so delicate. “Is that a hobby of yours?”

“Sometimes.”

“Well, thank you.” Arthur replaced the small glass creature into the box for safe keeping. “It’s beautiful.”

Merlin smiled proudly, and Arthur had to hold himself back from leaning in for a kiss.

“I have something else,” Merlin said, pulling a pack of cards out of another pocket. “Do you want to play?”

“What did you have in mind?” Arthur asked, endeared that Merlin wanted to play a game with him.

“War. Whoever wins has to share something about himself.”

Arthur nodded, amused, and let Merlin deal out the cards.

Merlin won the first round.

“I was raised by my mum,” he shared, aligning his stack of cards.

“Any siblings?” Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head.

“I was raised by my dad,” Arthur said. “Me and my sister.”

“You didn’t win,” Merlin pointed out.

Arthur shrugged. “Am I not allowed to share anything in response?”

Merlin looked pleased, and Arthur felt himself going warm. He hadn’t meant to flirt.

“You can share. Again?”

Arthur nodded. They played another round, and Arthur found himself noticing Merlin’s hands. They were thin and bony, long and not particularly graceful, somehow attractive and completely mesmerising.

Merlin won the second round.

“I studied maths at uni for a while,” he said.

“Aren’t you a librarian?” Arthur asked, surprising himself that he remembered.

Merlin looked surprised as well. “I am. I changed my mind. But maths was the first thing I studied.”

“I like maths,” Arthur said. “It was always one of my favourite subjects in school.”

“Me, too. Again?”

Arthur nodded and, trying his best not to get distracted by Merlin’s wrists, finally won the next round.

“I’ve never been to Asia.”

Merlin laughed. “That’s not a very good fact.”

“No? I’ve never been to Australia, either. Or the Middle East. Or South America.”

“Have you been anywhere?” Merlin teased.

“I guess not,” Arthur admitted. “Not Africa, either.”

“What’s your favourite place you’ve been?”

“I liked Prague.” Arthur had been during Gwen’s series. They’d travelled to a few cities around Eastern Europe, but Arthur hadn’t gotten the chance to explore much besides Prague, where he’d been lucky enough to go on a single date with Gwen.

“Prague’s beautiful,” Merlin agreed.

“You’ve been?” Arthur asked.

Merlin nodded but didn’t elaborate.

“Where’s your favourite place you’ve been?”

Merlin looked up at something past Arthur’s shoulder. “I’ll tell you next time.”

Arthur looked behind him to see Gwaine approaching. “Next time,” he said, turning back to Merlin. As much as he was relieved for an excuse for the interaction to be over, he found that didn’t actually want to stop talking with Merlin.

Merlin nodded, collected his cards, and got up before Gwaine had reached them.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Gwaine as he plopped down where Merlin had just been. “Got bored and wondered where you’d gone off to.”

“It’s only been a few minutes,” Arthur said even though he wasn’t sure how long it had been. “How bored could you get?”

“Percy’s feats of strength are only entertaining for so long.”

“Oh? What’s he doing?”

“He’s bench pressing Elena.”

Arthur laughed, wishing he could see that. “Sounds pretty entertaining to me.”

Gwaine grinned. “Yeah. You’re right. I just missed you.”

He said it with a wink, and Arthur laughed again.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I missed you, too. You’re pretty entertaining yourself.”

“Who, me?” Gwaine asked innocently. “I’m nothing compared to you, princess.”

Arthur scoffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Gwaine shrugged, looking smug, and Arthur rolled his eyes.

After Gwaine came Elena, looking slightly dishevelled, then Mithian, then Vivian who still acted like she wasn’t entirely interested in Arthur, and then the rest of the contestants until Arthur’s throat was scratchy from all the talking.

At the end of the night, Arthur was still tempted to send Merlin home. They’d had a good time—a really good time, if Arthur let himself admit it—but Merlin still wasn’t going to be the one Arthur chose at the end of all this. The longer he let Merlin stay, the more guilty he was going to feel about leading him on. Still, their card game wasn’t exactly something Arthur could send Merlin home over, and he ended up giving Merlin yet another candle.

He told himself, as he was falling asleep later that night, that it was all still part of the game. He was playing along with what the producers wanted, keeping around the good contestants, the ones he had chemistry with, the ones who should have stood a real chance. He wasn’t being selfish, he wasn’t being foolish, he was being reasonable. He had to keep a certain number of contestants each week, and Merlin might as well be among them since there was no obvious reason to send him home yet.

~~~~

The next week, Arthur chose to take Mithian on a single date. They hopped in a car, and he drove her away from the mansion, following a production van until they reached an empty field.

“Is that—” Mithian’s mouth hung open as she looked out the car window.

“Have you ever been in one?” Arthur asked, enjoying her shocked expression.

“No. Have you?”

Arthur shook his head and got out of the car. Mithian joined him, and they went over to where a helicopter was waiting for them in the middle of the field.

They were given headsets and a quick safety brief, and then they were loaded into the backseat of the helicopter.

“Holy fuck,” Mithian said when the rotor blade started up.

Arthur laughed and let her grab both of his hands.

“Are you all right?” he asked, resisting the urge to scream into the headset to be heard over all the noise.

“I’m—” She shrieked a little as the helicopter lifted up.

It was an odd sensation going straight up instead of taking off gradually like in a plane, but soon enough they were moving along, flying over the mansion.

“This is amazing!” Mithian shouted, squeezing Arthur’s hands.

Arthur just laughed, feeling high from the excitement of being in a helicopter and from how delightful Mithian was.

“Where are we going?” Mithian asked after they flew over a long stretch of fields and woods.

“It’s a surprise!”

Mithian pouted a little, and Arthur pushed their mics out of the way so he could kiss her.

When they landed, they were given a modicum of privacy to change into swimsuits, and then they drove a short distance to the beach.

“This is beautiful,” Mithian said, pointing up at the cliffs that overlooked the water.

“It’s a bit chilly,” Arthur commented.

“Should we get in the water, anyway?” Mithian took his hand in hers and raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to agree.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded, so Arthur agreed, and they ran into the water holding hands.

“It’s freezing!” Mithian called out before diving head-first into an oncoming wave.

Arthur laughed and followed suit, dunking his head in the water to get it over with.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered when he surfaced. His skin was prickling. “Why did we do this?”

Mithian swam over and wrapped her legs around his waist. Arthur quickly got his hands on her back, holding her against him in the water.

“Because we can do this,” she said, pushing her wet hair off her face.

Arthur couldn’t argue with that point, especially not when she started kissing him. She didn’t hold back at all, and it was all Arthur could do to keep from groping her in front of the cameras. He did let one of his hands slide down to her arse, which was under the water, and she slotted closer when he gave it a squeeze.

“Mithian,” he said after a few minutes when it started feeling like his balls were going to retreat into his lungs. “As much as I’m enjoying this—”

“Are you as cold as I am?” She leaned back a little and Arthur looked down at where her hard nipples were visible through her suit.

“Very much so.”

Mithian grinned and went in for one last kiss before dismounting and swimming back to shore. Arthur followed, and they huddled together on the beach under a few blankets, enjoying the sunset together.

“Today was a lot of fun,” Mithian said as the sky turned a dark purple. “Thanks for that.”

“Of course.” Arthur wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I had fun, too.”

She was shivering, so Arthur pulled her closer, and she leaned into him. Arthur looked out at the sky and found himself feeling immensely content, despite the cold. He really had had a good day. Mithian was fun, and she was beautiful, and she made him feel at ease. He didn’t feel like he had to put on a show for the cameras when he was with her—he just had to be himself, and she seemed to enjoy that, and they seemed to get along without effort. It was a relief after his last single date with Mordred when there had been nothing more than just the fun.

When the sun was finally gone, they were separated for interviews.

“How was today?” Leon asked, giving Arthur a wide grin.

“Today was great,” Arthur said honestly. “Mithian’s really wonderful. I appreciate how excited she was about everything, even the freezing cold water. She’s a lot of fun to be around.”

“How are you feeling about her?” Leon prompted.

“I’m definitely having a good time. I think Mithian… I think she’d make a great partner. I want someone I can go on the occasional adventure with, and she’s definitely game for that. She’s what made today so fun, and I think we’re starting to build a real connection.”

After the interview, he was allowed to go and change back into his dry clothes. They drove back to the mansion and bungalow, which took a lot longer than the helicopter ride, and Arthur took a quick shower to rinse off the last of the sand before getting ready for the second half of the date.

Mithian arrived to their ‘dinner’ in a long, flowing, shimmering gown. She was stunning, and Arthur was suddenly struck by the fact that he could actually end up with someone like her—or her specifically. Mithian was interested in him and fun to be around, and she would be a perfectly appropriate partner.

She would be more than appropriate, really. She would be wonderful.

“You look beautiful,” he said as they sat down. “Really.”

Mithian went a bit red. “Thank you. You look very nice, too.”

Arthur reached for his wine glass. “Shall we make a toast?”

Mithian took her glass as well. “To taking love to new heights?”

Arthur chuckled and knocked his glass against hers. “Well said.” He took a sip and set down his glass before reaching for her hands. “Thanks for making today so much fun. I’m really glad I got to experience that with you.”

“Thank _you_,” she said emphatically. “There’s no way I ever would have gotten into a helicopter if you weren’t there.”

“Really?”

“You couldn’t tell how terrified I was? I thought I was going to shit myself.”

Arthur burst out laughing before he could stop himself. “I could not tell,” he said honestly. “You hid it very well.”

Mithian grinned, and Arthur leaned in for a kiss.

“Tell me more about you,” he said when they broke apart. “Tell me about your family.”

Mithian’s smile wavered a bit, and Arthur suddenly wished they weren’t being filmed.

“Whatever you want to share,” he added, hoping she would take the hint.

“I want to share the truth,” Mithian said quietly. “I grew up mostly with my dad. My mum was sort of in and out of the picture… mostly out. But my dad was amazing, and we’re really close. A few years ago he was… well, he was sort of assaulted. I won’t go into detail, but he hasn’t been the same since. I actually live with him and take care of him. I think he’ll always need help, and I’m really happy to be the one who’s there for him.”

Arthur tried to read between the lines, but he couldn’t imagine what had happened to her father. It didn’t matter, though. It was clear that Mithian loved her father unconditionally, and that was an appealing trait despite the accompanying baggage.

“I’m sorry you both had to go through that,” he said, squeezing her hands. “You’re amazing for stepping up to care for him.”

Mithian shrugged. “He’s my dad.”

Arthur nodded like anyone would do the same, but he knew the truth. If anything like that ever happened to his own father, he wouldn’t be the caregiver. He wouldn’t abandon his father, and he would pay for the best care possible, but he wouldn’t do it himself. Mithian was a better person than he was—or maybe Mithian’s father was a better person than Arthur’s—and Arthur knew he’d be lucky to end up with anyone half as kind as her.

“I have something for you,” he said, taking his hands back. He took the lit candle off the table and Mithian smiled. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

“No,” she teased, taking the candle from him. “I’d rather not.”

Arthur laughed and gave her a long kiss before the producers came to end their date.

“Today was fantastic,” Arthur said when Leon had started up his post-date interview. “Mithian’s someone I’m really excited about, and tonight only solidified that. I appreciate her opening up to me, and her story really shows how special of a person she is. I’d be lucky to end up with someone like her. She has a lot of qualities I’m looking for in a partner, and I’m excited to see where our relationship goes.”

Back at his bungalow, Arthur helped himself to more wine as he thought through his _Most Eligible_ contestants. Most of them he hadn’t gotten to know especially well, but there were a few stand outs. Gwaine was definitely someone to keep around, if only for the entertainment value. He rarely made sense, but he was bold and Arthur enjoyed that. Elena and Mithian were both fantastic. Arthur found himself already wanting to spend more time with both of them. Mithian was warm and friendly and kind. Elena was bubbly and energetic and outgoing. They weren’t especially like each other, but Arthur liked them both.

And then there was Merlin, who Arthur still felt conflicted about. He was everything Arthur usually liked in his male partners—easy on the eyes, easy to spend time with, easy to fall for—but Arthur couldn’t let himself go down that path. He wanted to end up with someone like Mithian. He wanted that choice to be easy, but as long as Merlin stayed, he was going to be distracted.

He couldn’t just up and send Merlin home, though. Merlin had done nothing wrong, there had been no drama, no obvious lack of chemistry, no falling out. He had no proper excuse, and it wasn’t like he could use the truth as an explanation without sounding like an arse. All he could do was hope for an opportunity—some kind of misstep or awkward moment—and be ready when the time came.

~~~~

The next day, Arthur took some of the remaining contestants to a vineyard where they were given a tour and then left to their own devices in the tasting room. Everyone got tipsy, including Arthur, and he ended up giving his candle to Vivian even though she barely talked to him the whole day. He was still intrigued by her and her beauty, and he figured he just needed to butter her up a bit.

The week ended with another cocktail party, and the group was small enough that it was finally less hectic. Arthur had already got plenty of time to speak with Mithian and those who had been on the group date, so the only people who were really adamant about getting time with him were those who had been left behind on the wine trip.

Merlin was among that group, and as the night went on and Merlin kept to himself, Arthur found himself disappointed. Maybe Merlin was losing interest in him.

That would probably be for the best, Arthur knew. Nothing could happen between them. Nothing was going to happen between them. Maybe this was the perfect excuse to send Merlin home. Or maybe Merlin would even self-select out of the competition.

Just as Arthur was convincing himself that Merlin was bound to be upstairs packing his bags, he finally appeared and pulled Arthur aside.

“I missed you,” Arthur said, realising a little too late that he was tipsy again. He shouldn’t have said that.

“Really?” Merlin asked, looking sceptical.

Arthur didn’t want to elaborate, so he guided Merlin out of the mansion and around back to the sofa by the pool.

“I wanted to tell you something,” Merlin said as they sat down.

“Shoot.”

“I’m interested in you. I know that’s kind of the point, but I just wanted you to know. I feel like we’ve been a little hot and cold, so I wanted to tell you how I’m feeling. I’m interested in getting to know you better, but I do think we need to make a point to spend time together. I want this to be a two-way street, and I’m not going to agree to marry anyone if I don’t feel like I know them.”

“That’s completely fair,” Arthur said, feeling warm. “I’m sorry if I haven’t paid as much attention to you as I should have. It wasn’t on purpose.” That last part wasn’t entirely true, but Arthur didn’t want to admit that he actually had been avoiding Merlin. “I’ll try harder.”

“Okay,” Merlin said, not sounding entirely convinced. “Because… I don’t have to be here if you don’t want me to be. I can go home if this isn’t going to go anywhere.”

Arthur’s chest clenched at the thought of Merlin sending himself home, despite what he had been thinking about before their conversation. The idea of Merlin packing his bags was a lot less threatening when it was only a hypothetical.

“I want to you stay,” Arthur said, telling himself that it was okay to lean into their connection despite the fact that it might end badly. He had signed up to give the show some drama, and Merlin seemed reasonable enough that he might not hate Arthur for leading him on. They could still have a good time in the meanwhile, and Arthur didn’t need to treat Merlin any differently than the rest of the men just because he liked him more. He could at least put in the effort. “There’s something about you, Merlin,” he said, and Merlin’s expression softened. “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I want you to stay.”

Merlin gave Arthur a long look, and Arthur found that he couldn’t look away. Merlin was so pretty, his eyes so blue, his gaze so piercing. He wanted to lean in for a kiss.

“All right,” Merlin finally said. “Thank you.”

“Hey,” Sophia said, appearing out of nowhere to steal Arthur away. “May I interrupt?”

Arthur, somewhat relieved for the excuse to end the conversation, glanced at Merlin, who nodded, and then stood to let Sophia take him back inside.

~~~~

The next week, Arthur and his gaggle of contestants were flown to Oslo. Arthur chose Gwaine for his single date, mostly because Gwaine seemed like he would be the most fun out of everyone left, and Arthur wanted to have a good time exploring the city. He could have chosen any of the other men just as easily—Percy was a good laugh, and Merlin was… well, Merlin was Merlin. Merlin was lovely and pretty to look at, and just too much for Arthur to handle on his first date in a foreign country. He wanted someone easy, someone who wouldn’t push him to be too serious, someone he could relax with, someone who would keep the day fun and light. Gwaine seemed the least affected by the crew’s constant presence, and Arthur felt good about his choice.

They went to the Viking Ship Museum where Gwaine spouted off about how he was sure he should have been born as a Viking.

“No indoor plumbing, though,” Arthur pointed out as they peered up at an enormous, impressive ship.

“Who needs indoor plumbing when you can just shit on the corpses of your enemies?”

“Wow,” Arthur said, laughing. “That’s terrifying. Or disgusting.”

“Or both,” Gwaine said proudly.

“Definitely both.”

Gwaine smiled and reached for Arthur’s hand, holding it as they made their way through the rest of the museum.

They went to ‘dinner’ afterwards, and Gwaine opened the conversation with the story of how his dad had died a few years earlier.

“I think about him every day,” he said, looking down into his wine glass. “He was my best friend.”

“I’m sorry,” Arthur said quietly, feeling foolish for thinking that Gwaine wouldn’t take their date seriously. “I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”

Gwaine smiled sadly. “Yeah. You lost your mum, though, right?”

“I did, though it happened when I was born. I never knew her.”

“And your dad never remarried?”

Arthur shook his head. “No. It was always just him.”

Gwaine took a long gulp of wine. “Are you close with your dad?”

“I am,” Arthur said slowly. “He’s a hard man to impress, but I’ve always done my best.”

Gwaine hummed, perhaps reading between the lines and catching on to the difficult relationship Arthur had with his father. “Well. Sorry to be the downer. Didn’t mean to ruin dinner.”

“You didn’t ruin it,” Arthur said quickly. “These are important things to talk about. I’m glad you told me.”

“All right.”

A long moment of silence passed between them, and Arthur realised it was up to him to change the topic.

“How’s this all been for you?” he asked. “Are you managing okay? No drama?”

“No drama,” Gwaine confirmed, smiling. “Not with me, at least. Mostly I work out with Percy or play cards with Merlin. They’re good people.”

“They are,” Arthur agreed. “What’s Percy’s workout routine? He’s quite, um…”

“Incredibly beefy?” Gwaine supplied, laughing.

“Yeah, that.”

Gwaine shrugged. “He likes to bench press other people, which is pretty good to watch. Especially the girls, they always squeal. Merlin just flops like a rag doll, which is hilarious. Elena likes us to pile books on top of her to make her heavier.”

“Sounds like a good time,” Arthur said, a little jealous he was missing out on all the fun.

“It’s bearable,” Gwaine teased.

Another moment passed between them, and then Arthur leaned in for a kiss.

“Do you want this candle?” he asked quietly.

Gwaine chuckled. “Those aren’t the right words.”

“No,” Arthur agreed with a sigh. He leaned back and grabbed the candle off the table. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

“Oh, I’ll carry it,” Gwaine said, winking goofily. “I’ll carry it right up my—”

Arthur cut him off with another kiss. Gwaine was ridiculous, but he was a good time, and Arthur could enjoy that for what it was. He didn’t feel very strongly towards Gwaine—at least not in a romantic way—but he _really_ didn’t mind the kissing.

“All right, all right,” a producer called out when they carried on. “Gwaine, let’s get you back to the hotel.”

Gwaine tugged on Arthur’s lower lip with his teeth as he pulled back, and Arthur had to suppress a groan.

“I’ll see you later?” Gwaine asked, and Arthur nodded.

“Arthur,” another producer waved him over. “Tell us about your date.”

“Today was a lot of fun,” Arthur said honestly. “Gwaine’s definitely the kind of person who makes the most out of every situation, so he was the perfect person to get my first taste of Oslo with. And I appreciated him opening up at dinner, I know those aren’t the easiest things to think about. He’s clearly a very strong person to go through losing a parent so young, and that says a lot about him.”

“How are you feeling about him?” the producer prompted, and Arthur got ready to stretch the truth.

“I feel really good about our potential. I think we have things in common, similar interests, and he always makes me laugh. That’s definitely something I’m looking for. He checks a lot of my boxes.”

The producer conferred with another producer for a moment, and then Arthur was allowed back to his hotel. He drank some more wine in his room, enjoying the ease of the day and the way Gwaine put no pressure on him. He had his serious moments, as did everyone else, but he wasn’t like, say, Sophia. He wasn’t dropping hints about marriage and families and weddings. He was just himself, strange and hilarious and honest. Arthur appreciated that. He liked having Gwaine around, if only for the entertainment value.

He went to sleep content, pleased with the contestants he had left and excited to see more of Oslo over the next week.

~~~~

For the week’s group date, Arthur took some of the men and women to an outdoor market so they could sample some local Norwegian culture and cuisine.

It turned out he didn’t get to experience much of it, though, as the contestants were getting more and more serious about grabbing his time and attention. He spent most of the day shuttling between different conversations, trying to give everyone their fair shot.

However, it was difficult to give anyone his full attention when Merlin was hanging around. He looked incredibly happy to be on the date, and, unlike everyone else, he wasn’t tripping all over himself to get a turn to walk with Arthur. He kept his distance, shooting Arthur a smile every now and then, spending his time with the other contestants, practicing his phrasebook Norwegian on the local vendors, and enjoying the day for what it was.

Arthur found it hard to look away from him. He was practically glowing with how pleased he was every time he got a phrase right or made another contestant laugh or caught Arthur’s eye. He was the only one in the group who seemed genuinely interested in their surroundings, and Arthur wished he was exploring Oslo with Merlin alone.

Eventually the group settled down for lunch, and after that they went to a pub for afternoon cocktails. Arthur was almost immediately pulled aside by Elena.

“Having a good time?” she asked as they settled at a table not especially far from the rest of the group. Arthur could see some of the other contestants shooting them jealous looks, and he did his best to ignore it.

“Yeah. Oslo’s beautiful. What did you think of the fish?”

“You know, I don’t usually eat seafood, but it was really good.”

Arthur nodded and dropped one of his hands to Elena’s knee. “It was good. Today was fun. I love exploring new places, I wish we had a bit more time here.”

“Did you get to explore with Gwaine?”

“A bit. We went to a museum. Didn’t he tell you?”

Elena shrugged. “He doesn’t really talk about you much in the house. At least not to me. He might to Percy, they’re pretty close. Mostly he just talks utter nonsense to me.”

Arthur laughed. “Yeah, he talks utter nonsense to me, too.”

“He’s good, though,” Elena said. Then she added, “Everyone is. You have a lot of good people here. I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to find any friends, or that being trans would be sort of… not as accepted as I would have liked. It hasn’t been a problem, though. I don’t envy your position.”

“No,” Arthur agreed. “I wish it was going to be easier, but… well, like you said, it’s a good group. You especially.”

Elena actually blushed. “Gosh, Arthur.”

Arthur grinned and pulled her in for a long kiss, sliding his fingers into her hair.

“I like you a lot,” Elena said, her voice low and breathy. “Actually, I’m… falling for you pretty hard.”

Arthur’s heart thumped a little in his chest, and he was surprised to find that he felt a little guilty rather than excited. He did like Elena, but… maybe he didn’t like her as much as she liked him.

“Yeah?” he asked, not sure what else to say.

“Yeah.”

“Good,” he decided. He could figure out how he felt later. He went in for another kiss and let it linger for a while before pulling away and escorting her back to the group that had just watched them snogging.

Merlin stood quickly, and he had the insight to lead Arthur farther away from the rest of the contestants. They walked around a corner, and Arthur took Merlin’s hand, feeling bold.

“You looked like you were having a good time today,” he said as they found a high table to stand at.

“I did?”

“Yeah. I saw you practicing your Norwegian.”

Merlin laughed. “Yeah, it’s pretty rough. I like to try, though. I’m surprised you noticed, it was a bit of a circus today.”

Arthur shrugged, not wanting to admit that he had been preoccupied with Merlin all day.

“I was thinking about what you said last week,” he said instead. “About us needing to spend time together.”

To Arthur’s surprise, Merlin went red.

“I was feeling very pushy last week.”

“No, you were right. I’ve been inconsistent. It’s… this whole process, it’s been difficult. It’s hard for me, sometimes, to know where to direct my energy. There’s other people, other relationships… but I appreciated you speaking up. Besides,” Arthur said, rounding the table and reaching for Merlin’s other hand. “Your confidence is sexy.”

Merlin went even redder, and Arthur laughed and dropped his hands.

“And your blushing. Doesn’t exactly scream confidence, but—”

“Please don’t say it screams sex,” Merlin said, laughing.

“I wasn’t going to,” Arthur promised.

Merlin shook his head, still laughing, and Arthur gave into the urge and went in for a kiss.

Merlin gasped against Arthur’s lips, surprised, but Arthur didn’t pull back. He waited for Merlin to kiss back, to sink into it, to melt against him. He slotted his whole body against Arthur’s, fitting nicely into place, and Arthur held him tighter as their kiss deepened. He got his tongue in Merlin’s mouth, and Merlin got his hands in Arthur’s hair, and it wasn’t long before Arthur was completely lost in it.

“I should get you back,” Merlin whispered, pulling away slightly when Arthur’s hands slid down to his arse.

“I don’t want to go back,” Arthur said, mumbling his words in hopes their mics wouldn’t pick them up.

“You should.”

Arthur sighed and took a step back. “I should,” he agreed.

Merlin licked his lips, and Arthur went in for one last kiss.

“Okay,” he said, forcing himself to step back again. “Thanks for… this.”

Merlin flushed again, and Arthur had to turn away to stop himself from pursuing another kiss.

He went back to the group and was pulled away again by Sophia, then Percy, and then the rest of the group, one by one until he had spoken with everyone. He found the conversations lacklustre, devoid of real connections, and he kept thinking backing to Merlin and how easily they talked, how easily they moved from talking to kissing, how easily Arthur was falling for him.

He only wished he could feel that strongly about how things had gone with Elena.

He did his best to focus on the other contestants, though. He still wasn’t going to end up with Merlin, and he didn’t want anyone to feel like second best.

“I had a really good time today,” he said when he was finally allowed to sit amongst the group at the end of the night. “And I hope you all got to enjoy Oslo as much as I did.”

There was a vague murmuring of agreement.

“I have this,” Arthur said, lifting the candle off a side table. “And I want to give it to someone who…” He trailed off, thinking of Merlin and Merlin’s lips. “Someone who opened up tonight, and someone who always makes me laugh.”

Turning to Elena, he asked, “Will you carry a torch for me?”

Elena grinned and took the candle, giving him a look that only served to make him feel guilty because he was still thinking about Merlin.

~~~~

Arthur decided to skip the cocktail party that week and go straight for the Candle Ceremony. He didn’t need more time with anyone to know what he wanted to do. He wanted to keep Merlin, Gwaine, Percy, and Mordred. He wanted to keep Elena, Sophia, Mithian, and Vivian. 

No one else who was left had really caught his attention, and it was time to start to get more serious about the process. Even though he knew he was keeping some people he didn’t have a strong interest in, he at least had a connection with each of them, and he enjoyed all of their companies. And he had to keep a decent amount of contestants around, so he might as well make the most of it. He sent everyone else home, though, patiently hugging each of them on their way out, and then went back to his hotel room to sleep and get ready for the next week and not think too hard about the harder choices he was going to have to start making now that he had whittled down the group.


	2. Chapter 2

For his second single date in Oslo, Arthur chose to take Vivian on a walking tour of the city. He figured that would give them plenty of time to get to know each other and plenty of time for her to warm up to him.

She didn’t, though. She barely talked during the first hour of the date, only commenting on some of the shops they passed by and pointing out the clothes and bags she liked.

Arthur found himself wishing he’d taken Merlin on the date instead. He’d been avoiding it, thinking that it would be best to steer clear of such an extended one-on-one interaction with someone he felt so conflicted about, but he knew for a fact that he would be having a better time with Merlin. Merlin was good at exploring new places and good at conversation, and Vivian wasn’t either of those things.

Eventually Arthur got her to talk about her family, and she started out with, “My dad likes to threaten my boyfriends with a knife.”

“That’s charming,” Arthur muttered. This date was going horribly. He had hoped that maybe Vivian was just shy or unsure, but she really was just cold. Cold to him, at least. She seemed sweet, but he couldn’t manage to get her to direct any sweetness to him. He wondered why she was even on the show. Maybe she just wanted to get famous.

“He’s harmless,” she said. “Mostly.”

Arthur stopped to watch an old man playing the accordion on a street corner, and Vivian grabbed his hand.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a harsh whisper.

“Listening.”

Vivian scoffed and tugged him away. “What else are we doing today?”

“Just this.”

Vivian pouted a little, and Arthur took his hand back. “We can stop and head to dinner.”

“It’s early,” she pointed out.

“Yes, but…” Arthur gestured around. “You don’t seem to be enjoying this.”

“No,” she agreed. “Let’s do dinner.”

Arthur was allowed to go back to his hotel room to change, and he was glad for the time away from Vivian. He was exhausted from trying to build up a conversation with her.

At least he still had Sophia. And Elena. And Mithian. They were all lovely, and any one of them would make a better wife than Vivian.

Vivian wasn’t smiling when they were reunited for dinner, and she didn’t smile as Arthur waxed poetic about their day and his childhood and anything else he could think of.

“I was thinking,” he finally said after the umpteenth awkward silence. “I’m not sure we’re on the same page here.”

“What page is that?” Vivian asked, looking barely interested in the conversation.

“I’m not sure we want the same thing,” Arthur tried.

“I want to get married,” Vivian said unconvincingly.

“Yes. I think, though, that maybe we’d both be better suited for other people.”

Vivian frowned at him. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“I think it’s for the best.”

She looked like she’d just been slapped. “How dare you. I came here to find love. With _you_.”

“I appreciate that,” Arthur lied, “but I don’t think it’s going to happen for us.”

Vivian pouted for a moment, and then she got up and walked away, towards the producers. Arthur stayed where he was and drained both his and her wine glasses, waiting for her to be escorted back to her own hotel room before he could leave for his.

He wasn’t allowed back without an interview, though.

“Tell me what happened,” the producer prompted.

Arthur sighed and rubbed at his temples. He shouldn’t have had all that wine. He should have chosen Merlin for the date and avoided this whole mess.

“Vivian’s lovely, really,” he lied. “She’s kind, and she’s… we had a good time today. I just don’t think we could have fallen in love. The chemistry wasn’t there. I felt like I was forcing our relationship to happen, and that’s not fair to either of us.”

When the producer waited for him to say more, he added, “That’s all there is.”

“Let him go,” Leon said from where he was loitering with the camera crew.

The other producer shrugged and started arranging for Arthur to be driven back to his room.

Arthur spent the night flipping through Norwegian television stations, mindlessly listening to the strange sounds of the language. He hadn’t had a very good day, and there was nothing he could do to change that. All he could do was hope that the rest of the contestants were more genuine than Vivian. He was pretty sure they were—no one else had given him as much resistance as Vivian had—but it was still upsetting to think he’d kept someone like that around for as long as he had. He should have known better. If his judgement was this bad with Vivian, what else was he missing with the others?

~~~~

Now that the group was small enough, Arthur was allowed two single dates in the same week, and he chose Percy for the second one. They went to a thermal spa and sat in the sauna for a while, chatting easily about the antics Percy had got up to with the other contestants.

“Gwaine keeps threatening to shit on me when I bench press him,” Percy said, stretching his long arms out along the ledge. “I don’t think he’s serious, but…”

“It’s hard to tell with him,” Arthur finished. “He’s a strange one.”

“Strange but good,” Percy agreed. “We all are, a bit. You’ve got an interesting group left.”

“Yeah? Anyone I should be worried about?”

“Sophia scares me,” Percy said, laughing. “She’s very intense. Probably harmless, though.”

“It’s hard to imagine you being scared by anyone.”

“I might be bigger, but that doesn’t mean I’m smarter.”

Arthur smirked. “You’re plenty smart.”

Percy shrugged. “Maybe. Doesn’t mean she’s not intense, though. But I’m not trying to start any drama. Everyone gets along, really. It’s a shame Vivian had to go.”

“Yeah,” Arthur said, trying not to roll his eyes. “She was nice.”

“No, she wasn’t. She was just nice to look at.”

Arthur laughed. “She was.” He considered Percy for a moment. “I guess we haven’t talked about it. I didn’t realise you were bi as well.”

Percy shrugged again. “Yeah. Me and Gwaine, both. Elena, too. I assume Sophia and Mithian are straight, but they haven’t said explicitly. Merlin and Mordred are gay.”

“I knew about Merlin,” Arthur said. “And I guessed about Mordred.”

“You’ve got a very queer cast of characters here,” Percy said, grinning. “You’re making more history.”

“More?”

“You were on Gwen’s season,” Percy said, reminding Arthur that she had been the first black lead on _Most Eligible_.

“I didn’t mean to make history,” Arthur admitted. “It just… happened.”

“I’m glad it did,” Percy said with a soft smile. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have met.”

Arthur closed his eyes as Percy leaned in close, and then they kissed.

All too soon, Arthur was struggling to get enough air even though their kissing was pretty tame.

“It’s too hot in here,” he said, pushing his sweaty hair off his forehead. “Should we go rinse off?”

Percy nodded and followed Arthur to the showers where they continued making out under the stream.

When they were finally done at the spa, they were separated for dinner and then brought back together for drinks, where Percy told Arthur more about his family and the fire that killed them. Arthur couldn’t imagine losing anyone that way, and at the end of the night he gave Percy a candle.

“Percy’s really special,” Arthur said during his post-date interview. “He’s been through a lot, but he hasn’t let it bring him down. He’s a lot of fun to be around, and I think that speaks to his character. I really respect him, and I enjoyed getting to know him better tonight.”

“Yes,” the producer said, looking bored. “But how you are feeling about him?”

The truth was that Arthur didn’t feel any stronger about Percy than he did about Gwaine or Mordred. Percy was sweet and incredibly hot, and Arthur appreciated him and his story, but that was all it was. There wasn’t a spark between them, but Arthur couldn’t come out and say that after he’d just given Percy a candle.

“I’m excited about the potential for my relationship with Percy,” he said. “I enjoy being around him—he always makes it easy. I can imagine what a life with him would be like, and I know it would be a good one.”

The producer seemed pleased with Arthur’s lies, and he was allowed back to his hotel for the night.

He had a better night than after his date with Vivian, and that was all he could ask for, really. He took a long, hot shower, enjoyed the soft comfort of the fluffy robe that came with the hotel room, and entertained himself some more by watching telly he couldn’t understand. He shouldn’t have let Vivian get him so down—he knew that his remaining contestants were good. Percy was a perfect example of that. His and Arthur’s connection wasn’t very deep, but he was fun and sexy and Arthur enjoyed having him around. He was genuine and pleasant and seemed to like Arthur’s company. That was all Arthur could ask for, really.

~~~~

For the second group date in Oslo, Arthur took the rest of the contestants out to a sculpture garden.

He found himself gravitating to Elena and Mithian the most, maybe because they made it easy for him to spend time with both of them. They weren’t jealous of each other, they seemed to be friends, and they both obviously enjoyed his company.

Despite wanting to spend the whole day with them, Arthur forced himself to spend time with Sophia, Gwaine, and Mordred as well. Merlin was more difficult. He stayed close to Gwaine for most of the day, except for when Gwaine was with Arthur and for one brief moment where he caught Arthur behind a large and somewhat abstract statue.

“Hey,” he said, reaching for Arthur’s hand.

“Hey.”

Arthur fought the urge to take his hand back. He didn’t want anyone to see them holding hands. He was trying to keep the public displays of affection to a minimum out of respect for each of the remaining contestants. It didn’t look like anyone could see them, though.

“Having a good time?”

Arthur just nodded. He couldn’t bring himself to meet Merlin’s gaze. He had gone too far the other night, snogging Merlin like a teenager on the rooftop bar and saying he hadn’t wanted to go back to the group. And then he’d gone and given the candle to Elena instead, feeding right into Merlin’s theory that Arthur was hot and cold with him. And here they were again, with Arthur doing his best to minimise this spark between them.

He took his hand back. “Do you like this kind of art?” he asked, gesturing at the statue.

Merlin considered it for a moment. “I like the idea of it. This large object that means something to someone—to a lot of someones, probably—is here, immovable for all to see.”

Arthur glanced over and saw Merlin smiling. “You’re full of shit.”

Merlin laughed and knocked his shoulder against Arthur’s. “You like it.”

Before Arthur could respond, Sophia rounded the statue and dragged him away to look at another one.

By the time he had seen everything the park had to offer, Arthur’s feet were aching and he was exhausted from juggling his various relationships. He was glad for the dinner break he had before the cocktail hour, and he took a short nap on the ride to the bar.

“Arthur.” Leon put a hand on Arthur’s knee. “Wake up.”

Arthur sighed and opened his eyes, wishing he could just go to bed. He didn’t need to spend more time with anyone—everyone had gotten plenty of time with him at the sculpture garden.

He got out of the car anyway and joined the group inside.

Elena pulled him aside first, and instead of talking he just kissed her against a wall, letting her wake him up properly.

“That was nice,” she said when he finally broke away. “What was that for?”

“Do I need a reason to kiss you?”

“No,” Elena said, smiling and reaching out to rub the lipstick off his face. “I’d hope not.”

“Did you have a good time today?”

Elena nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. I love stuff like that. Anything to be outside, really. Sometimes it’s fun to just wander around and look at what’s there, you know?”

“Yeah. That’s a nice way of putting it.”

Elena grinned and went in for another kiss. “I still like you, you know.”

“I know.” He didn’t know what else to say. He did like Elena, but he wasn’t sure how much, and he wasn’t sure how romantically. He loved spending time with her—and she was sexy and he liked the kissing—but something was missing. He was starting to wonder if maybe they were better as friends. They had plenty in common and they got along well. Really, it was just the kissing that was complicating that.

Arthur allowed one more kiss before walking her back to the group so someone else could have time with him. Sophia grabbed him next.

“I was wondering,” she said as soon as they were out of earshot of everyone else, “why you haven’t picked me for a single date yet. I’ve been waiting. Merlin and I are the only ones left.”

Arthur pretended that he hadn’t known that. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t a signal or anything. I just have to make choices, and—”

“Your choices affect me, too,” Sophia said. “How am I supposed to think about getting engaged to you in a few weeks if we haven’t even gone on a date yet?”

“I’m sorry,” Arthur said, wishing he could lie and promise he’d take her on a date the next week just to get her to stop berating him. “Let’s just make the most of our time now.”

“I’ve been trying. You’re a hard man to get a hold of.”

“It’s not by design.”

Sophia didn’t seem convinced, but she dropped the topic and spent the rest of their time detailing her ideal future, with the husband and the kids and the perfect dog. It sounded nice, but it also sounded like it didn’t really matter who the husband was, and Arthur didn’t want to be a part of her future just for the sake of it.

After a while, Sophia was interrupted by Gwaine, and he and Arthur kissed around the corner from the rest of the group. Arthur leaned into it, attracted to Gwaine even if it didn’t go any deeper than physical chemistry.

And Gwaine wasn’t telling Arthur how much he liked him, like Elena was, and that made it easier.

They barely talked at all, but eventually Arthur had to excuse himself back to the group to let someone else have a chance with him. Mordred went next, and his time was mostly spent discussing all the various fun facts he’d learned about Oslo from Merlin’s phrasebook.

Mithian grabbed him after that, and Arthur kissed her rather than start up a proper conversation.

“Having a good night?” she asked, pressing her whole body against his.

Arthur trailed his lips up to her ear and pressed a kiss there. “Very,” he said lowly.

They stayed in that moment for a while, both of them obviously wanting more, but then Mithian stepped back.

“Thanks for hanging out with me today,” she said, reaching out to play with his hand. “You made that place a lot more fun than it would have been otherwise.”

“I could say the same.” Arthur dragged one of his fingers across her palm. “You and Elena seem to get along well.”

“She’s brilliant.” Mithian looked up and gave him a beaming smile. “So are you.”

Arthur chuckled and kissed her again, letting that take up the rest of their time.

When he returned to the group, it was Merlin’s turn. They settled at a table across the room from everyone else. 

“Today was fun,” Merlin said, smiling easily. “I kind of like seeing you with the others.”

“I think you’re the only one who feels that way,” Arthur said as he scooted closer.

Merlin shrugged. “It’s sweet the way you try to pay attention to everyone. I think it says a lot about you and how seriously you’re taking this process.”

“It’s a serious process,” Arthur said. “I’m looking to get engaged, and that’s not a small thing.”

Merlin’s smile wavered slightly. “No,” he agreed. “How do you know that you’re ready? Shouldn’t it depend on the person?”

“It does. I’m not going to get engaged to just anyone. It’s more like… like, I’m ready to be with someone. I’m not interested in messing around, in casual dating, in casual sex. I want to find someone to marry, someone I can spend my life with. I’m ready for that commitment. A much younger version of myself would be pissing in his pants hearing me say that, but it’s true. Especially after watching what was possible for Gwen and Lance, I know it’s possible for me, as well.”

Merlin nodded, looking slightly worried. “It’s a big step.”

“It is,” Arthur agreed. “That’s why I’m taking the process seriously. I want to take that step with the right person. I don’t want to get engaged at the end of this just to break up in a few months. I only want to get engaged once.”

“Makes sense.”

Arthur considered Merlin for a moment, wondering where this conversation was heading. Merlin didn’t seem very comfortable with the topic. Maybe he wasn’t looking to get engaged. Maybe Arthur should go ahead and send him home if he wasn’t even here with the same goals. That was a good enough excuse, wasn’t it?

That thought made Arthur’s heart pound in his chest, though. He didn’t want to send Merlin home.

“What are you looking for?”

“For a partner,” Merlin said quietly. “I’m not picky about the stage of the relationship. Boyfriend, fiancé, husband… those are all nice, to be honest. But I’m not in a rush to get through all those stages as fast as I can just for the sake of it. I want to be sure I’m with the right person, you know? That’s why I said we needed to spend time together, so this could be a two-way street.”

“We are spending time together,” Arthur pointed out, but he knew what Merlin meant. He meant that Arthur hadn’t chosen him for a single date yet.

“We are,” Merlin said. “How are you feeling about our time?”

Arthur didn’t know how to answer that. He liked the way Merlin challenged him—no one else did that. Sometimes he didn’t even do it on purpose. Arthur had come into this process with the intent to find a wife, and Merlin was still the only one who had made him pause on that goal. Not reconsider, necessarily, but pause and think on it.

It was still Arthur’s goal. But he knew Merlin was special. It was challenging not to get pulled off course.

“I’m sorry if our time’s been too serious,” Merlin said when Arthur didn’t respond to his question. “I thought about bringing the cards again, but—”

“No, it’s fine,” Arthur said quickly. “I like talking with you, regardless of the topic. I’m glad we’re talking about the harder stuff. It’s important.”

Merlin nodded and smiled a little. “Okay.”

Arthur wanted to lean forward and kiss Merlin, but he knew if he did, he wouldn’t want to stop. So, instead, he stood and held out his hands to pull Merlin up.

“Shall we go back to the group?” he asked, not really giving Merlin a choice.

Merlin nodded and followed Arthur around the bar until they came back to the rest of the contestants. Merlin sat, but Arthur stayed standing and took the candle off the table everyone was crowded around.

“Today was a lot of fun, and that’s thanks to all of you,” he said. “But I only have one candle. And… I want to give it someone who made the day easy as well as fun. So, Mithian, will you carry a torch for me?”

Mithian grinned and stood to accept her candle. “Of course,” she said, giving him a hug.

Arthur held her for a moment and then let go, braving a glance around the rest of the group. No one looked surprised, but no one looked happy, either.

Once everyone else had been shuttled back to their hotel, Arthur was cornered for an interview.

“You gave the candle to Mithian,” Leon said. “Tell me why.”

“Mithian’s really special,” Arthur said. “Every time I’m with her, things are just simple. I really appreciate that about her, and I think that speaks volumes about our relationship. Today could have been really awkward with such a small group, but she made it really easy to spend time with her _and_ everyone else.”

Leon nodded. “You had a pretty serious conversation with Merlin. How are you feeling about him?”

Arthur licked his lips. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Is it that interesting of a topic?”

Leon glared, and Arthur sighed and considered how to answer the question.

“Merlin’s really interesting. He knows what he wants out of our relationship, and I really like that. It’s not necessarily easy to give him what he wants—I only have so much time I can dedicate to each relationship I have—but I respect that he’s willing to ask for it instead of just going along with the flow and not getting what he needs.”

Leon checked his watch. “All right, last question. How about Sophia?”

“Sophia’s great,” Arthur said automatically. “She’s also someone who knows exactly what she wants, and that’s an attractive quality.”

What she wanted wasn’t exactly attractive, but Leon didn’t seem to mind the obvious lie, and he let Arthur go back to his hotel room for the night.

He forced himself to think of nothing as he went to sleep, knowing that he if delved into how he was feeling about Merlin or Mithian or Elena or _anyone_, he’d never get any rest.

~~~~

Arthur was allowed to cancel the full cocktail party that week since he’d spent ample time with everyone already, so the producers set everything up to go straight to the Candle Ceremony.

Percy already had a candle from their single date, and Mithian had one from the group date, which just left Gwaine, Mordred, Merlin, Elena, and Sophia.

“Elena,” Arthur said, picking up one of the four candles on the table next to him. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

“Gladly,” Elena said, leaving the candleless group to approach him. She took the candle and then joined Percy and Mithian, smiling widely.

“Gwaine,” Arthur said next. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

Gwaine just grinned instead of answering, taking the candle with a dangerous flourish before he joined the others.

“Mordred,” Arthur said, keeping his eyes trained on Mordred and Mordred only, not wanting to see Merlin’s or Sophia’s faces. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

“Of course!” Mordred accepted the candle gladly.

“Merlin,” Kilgharrah said, appearing at Arthur’s side to signify the end of the ceremony, “Sophia. This is Arthur’s last candle. If your name is not called, you will be going home tonight. Good luck.”

Kilgharrah ducked back off screen, and Arthur took a deep breath before picking up the last candle.

“Merlin,” he said, and Sophia’s eyes narrowed. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

Merlin nodded, looking subdued, and came up to take his candle. Arthur gave his hand a quick squeeze, trying to prove that he wasn’t always hot and cold, but Merlin barely seemed to notice.

“Sophia,” Kilgharrah said, appearing again. “I’m sorry, but you’re going home. Say your goodbyes.”

Sophia said quick farewells to the group and only gave Arthur a short wave before stepping off set for her exit interview. Arthur found himself not especially sorry to see her go.

~~~~

The next week, Arthur and the remaining contestants flew to Stockholm for the next round of dates.

Even though Merlin was the only one left who hadn’t yet been on a single date, Arthur decided to go out with Elena again. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Merlin yet, but he still wasn’t ready to really face his feelings for Merlin either, and he just wanted to have a fun day exploring the city.

He took her shopping, and they spent the day moving from shop to shop, trying on outlandish and expensive outfits until Elena found a dress they both loved.

“If I get this for you, will you wear it tonight?” Arthur asked, trailing his fingers over the soft folds of the skirt.

“You shouldn’t,” Elena said, looking shocked.

“I want to. I will. As long as you’ll wear it.”

“I—”

“You don’t get a vote,” Arthur decided. “I’m buying it. If you don’t wear it, I will.”

Elena laughed and agreed, going to change out of the dress so Arthur could purchase it for her. And, as promised, she wore it to their ‘dinner’ date that night.

“You look amazing,” Arthur said truthfully as they sat down at their small table. “Truly.”

“Thank you. You really didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to,” Arthur said, and he meant it. “That dress belongs on you.”

Elena blushed, and Arthur leaned across the table for a quick kiss.

“I wanted to tell you,” she said after she’d had a long gulp of wine, “that I can relate to your story.”

“My story?” Arthur asked, trying to think what he had told her about himself so far.

“I remember watching when you told Gwen about your family,” she explained. “My mother died when I was born as well. It’s always just been me and my dad. He’s the best guy in the world.”

Not entirely relatable, then, Arthur thought. Still, he smiled.

“I bet. He raised you, after all.”

“He did. He’s always been supportive. He’s never questioned me. You remind me of him.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should,” Elena said confidently. “You’re a good guy, too.”

Arthur smiled and leaned over for another kiss. Elena still made everything so easy for him. He loved having her around, loved spending time with her, loved going on dates with her. It might not have been an epic romance, but it was something. “So, I know exactly where this evening is going, and I don’t want to make you wait.” He picked the candle off the table and offered it to her. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

“Always,” Elena said, and this time she was the one who leaned forward for a kiss.

“I have another surprise for you,” Arthur said.

“You do?”

Arthur nodded and stood, holding out his hand. Elena took it and let him guide her up to the roof of the restaurant.

“What’s up here?” she asked when they’d reached the ledge.

“You’ll find out.”

“When?”

Arthur glanced over at the crew, and Leon nodded at him.

“Now.”

Elena frowned, but before she could ask another question a firework exploded above their heads.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands. “I love fireworks!”

Arthur laughed and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder as they watched the display.

“This is amazing,” Elena said, covering his hands with her own. “Thank you.”

Arthur pressed a kiss to her neck. “You’re amazing. Thank you for making today so fun. Normally I hate shopping.”

“You’re a good actor, then.”

“I try.”

Elena turned around in his grip and gave him a soft kiss. Arthur pulled her closer and deepened it, loving the bright lights going off over their heads and shoving everything else out of his mind.

~~~~

Arthur had the next day off, and he used it mostly to catch up on sleep. But when he couldn’t stay in bed any longer, he got up and made himself a big lunch, thinking over all the relationships he had left.

There was Gwaine, who was hilarious and incredibly sexy. He was built, and he didn’t take himself too seriously, and he made for excellent company even during mundane activities.

Percy was sweet and kind and also incredibly sexy. He was huge and muscular, but he had never been intimidating. He was a gentle giant, and he knew it, and he knew how to mask his physical presence with a shy smile.

Mordred was fun to be around. He was keen and lively and ready for anything. He was hot, too, with his curls and his blue eyes and his ever-present smile. He was young, but he wasn’t immature, and Arthur liked his infectious energy.

And there was Merlin, who wasn’t like any of the rest of them. He felt more real, somehow. When Arthur thought about a future with any of the men, Merlin’s was the most solid. He could see them together, doing nothing, doing everything, making each other happy and calling each other out when needed. Arthur wanted someone like that, someone who wasn’t afraid to speak up and ask for what he needed.

The only problem was that Arthur wanted a wife. He wanted to settle down with a woman. And if that was mostly due to his father’s influence, then so be it. Arthur knew he could be happy with that kind of future, and it would certainly be the easier choice.

So that left him Elena and Mithian. He liked them both a tremendous amount, although he knew he had stronger feelings for Mithian. Elena was brilliant and incredible to be around, but Arthur knew deep down that he thought of Elena more as friend. He felt _very_ strongly about her as a friend, and he hoped they would be able to maintain contact after the series, but the romance wasn’t there as much as he wanted it to be.

And there was something about Mithian that drew him in just a little bit more. Maybe it was her smile, maybe it was her strength, maybe it was just pure basic chemistry. Whatever it was, Arthur wanted more of her. Their time together was so easy, even when they were talking about the hard things, and she was beautiful. She was really everything Arthur could have hoped to find in such a ridiculous scenario.

After a long day spent pouring over everyone, Arthur still felt torn somehow. Mithian seemed like a clear choice, but he did still have feelings for Merlin.

And Merlin was so, so distracting. Even on the group date the next day, it was maddening. Arthur tried to focus on the other contestants—as was only fair, especially when they were right in front of him—but all he could think about was Merlin. Merlin laughing with Gwaine, Merlin dragging Percy over to a staircase so they could slide down it, Merlin buying Mithian a flower, Merlin conspiring with Mordred to trick Arthur into eating some strange Swedish fare.

In the end, Arthur’s only saving grace was the fact that Merlin seemed content to spend his time with the other contestants rather than competing for Arthur’s attentions. That meant that Arthur could at least pretend to be interested in other people and conversations.

That worked for most of the day, but then the group went out for drinks, and it was time for everyone to grab Arthur for some alone time.

Merlin went first.

“How’s Sweden treating you?” Merlin asked when they were settled in a booth away from everyone else.

“Very well. Did you enjoy today?”

Merlin shrugged. “I wish it had been just us.”

Arthur agreed, but out of respect for the others he felt he couldn’t admit that out loud. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not blaming you.” Merlin smiled. “Although, I’m the only one who hasn’t gotten a single date with you. Elena’s gotten two, now.”

Arthur had foolishly hoped that no one would have noticed or mentioned that, least of all Merlin.

“It’s nothing against you,” he said honestly. “I…”

Merlin leaned back in the booth, waiting patiently for Arthur’s explanation.

Arthur sighed and took a long drink of his wine, trying to remember that part of the reason he was here was to put on a good show. “I’ve been very drawn to you since the first night.”

Merlin’s eyebrows shot up. “You have been?”

“Yes. I know I haven’t, um… shown that consistently. I’ve also felt the need to hold back when it comes to you.”

“Why?”

Arthur had no idea how to answer that, but he felt that he had to try. He owed Merlin something other than a vague and broken promise not to be so hot and cold.

After a moment, he settled on, “I guess I was scared.”

“Am I very scary?” Merlin teased.

“No,” Arthur admitted. “But I’m also not very brave, so…”

Merlin scoffed. “That’s a lie, and you know it.”

Arthur shrugged, feeling anything other than brave with how he was skirting the issue at hand.

“Arthur, you came out on national television. You’re allowing your private life to be filmed for the whole world to watch. That takes bravery.”

“Or stupidity.”

“Maybe,” Merlin agreed with a smile. “But mostly bravery.”

“I appreciate that,” Arthur said, not wanting to argue the point.

“May I kiss you?” Merlin asked, sliding a little closer in the booth.

“You don’t have to ask.” Arthur reached for Merlin’s thigh under the table.

“You’re difficult to read,” Merlin said as he leaned closer.

“I want you to kiss me,” Arthur whispered, and Merlin did so.

Merlin tasted like wine, but Arthur imagined he did as well, and he found that he didn’t mind it. He liked the thought of getting drunk off Merlin. He wished they weren’t scrunched together in this small booth—he wanted to kiss Merlin properly, with some cuddling and groping and moaning and slowly getting hotter and heavier until it wasn’t only kissing.

Merlin’s hand brushed over his leg and Arthur felt something burning through him, taking his breath away, needing more, pulling him impossibly closer. He brought a hand up to Merlin’s neck, and Merlin gasped a little, the sound rolling down Arthur’s spine like a wave. He _wanted_. He wanted Merlin in a way that consumed him, in a way that pushed everything else aside, in a way that was like falling through a trap door.

One of them made a satisfied sort of noise, and Arthur could feel his heart rate picking up, his skin prickling, his trousers tightening.

Arthur pulled back before they could get too carried away. He still had other people he had to talk to, as much as he wanted to spend the rest of the evening hidden away with Merlin.

“Shall I leave you to it?” Merlin asked, ever patient and understanding. He looked debauched.

Arthur forced himself to nod, and Merlin gave him one last teasing kiss before scooting out of the booth and going back to the others. Arthur took a deep breath and scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to reset himself, trying to remember that he couldn’t end up with Merlin, trying to motivate himself to go back to the group and find his next conversation.

He couldn’t quite manage it.

“Arthur?”

Arthur looked up to see Mithian approaching him, saving him from himself and his inaction. She slid into the booth, taking Merlin’s spot, and Arthur kissed her before she could say anything.

“That was nice,” she said, leaning back. “Having a good day?”

Arthur nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Are you?”

“Yes. I wish today had been just us, though.”

Arthur wondered how many more times he was going to hear that line. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Me, too.”

Mithian opted to kiss him again instead of carrying on the conversation, and most of the others followed suit, so by the end of the night Arthur’s lips were actually feeling sore.

No one had kissed quite like Merlin, though. Or maybe it was that no one’s kiss had affected him quite like Merlin’s. He could still feel it—Merlin’s hand on his thigh, Merlin’s tongue on his lips, Merlin’s stubble against his jaw—and it rang through him every time he thought about it.

He had to stop thinking about it, though.

“I had an excellent time today,” he said once he was back with the group. “You all made today very fun, so thank you for that.” He reached for the candle, wishing he could just give it to everyone, or maybe to no one. “I’d like to give this to someone who… always makes me feel comfortable.” He turned to Mithian. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

Mithian nodded happily, taking the candle from him.

Arthur dared a glance at Merlin and saw him smiling sadly and looking resigned.

~~~~

After a sleepless night, still feeling as torn as ever, Arthur decided to skip the larger cocktail party again. He’d got plenty of time with everyone and didn’t need any more conversations to decide what to do.

He ended up sending Mordred home, and everyone seemed sad to see him go. Arthur was sad as well, but he knew that Mordred wasn’t the one for him. Mordred was fun, but there wasn’t anything deeper between them, and he needed to start focusing on the more practical potential partners.

~~~~

The next week, Arthur took Percy on another single date. They went to a ship museum, this one full of incredibly ornate warships. Percy found the whole thing fascinating, which was kind of endearing, but Arthur spent most of the day feeling guilty about not taking Merlin out on a date—again. He had another date planned for them later that week, but that didn’t excuse the fact that Percy had already had a single date, and Merlin hadn’t.

It also didn’t excuse the fact that all Arthur could think about was how much more fun he’d be having if Merlin with with him now instead of Percy.

“You all right?” Percy asked, taking Arthur’s hand as he stood and read a placard about the longest ship in the museum.

“Hm?” Arthur pressed a kiss to the back of Percy’s hand.

“You’re very quiet.”

“I’m sorry,” Arthur said, feeling even more guilty that he wasn’t hiding his preoccupation. “I didn’t sleep well.”

“We could try to sneak onto one of these boats,” Percy suggested. “Curl up and take a nap in one of the cabins.”

Arthur laughed and guided Percy into another room to look at yet another ship. “Somehow I don’t think that would end well.”

“Only one way to find out.”

Arthur let Percy drag him into an off-limits stairwell instead, but instead of napping they just snogged against the wall until a security guard came to shoo them away.

Abandoning the museum, Arthur and Percy moved onto ‘dinner’ in a restaurant overlooking one of Stockholm’s many rivers.

“I had a good time today,” Percy said as they sat down at their fake meal. “I liked all the boats.”

“Me, too,” Arthur agreed, a knot in his stomach. The truth was that his heart wasn’t in this date, and he knew he needed to address that sooner rather than later. “Thanks for spending time with me.”

“Of course.” Percy smiled gently. “Any time.”

Arthur rubbed his eyes, and Percy’s posture shifted as he realised what was happening.

“I’m sorry I was distant today,” Arthur began, and Percy’s smile was forced. “I think I just realised that I… don’t necessarily see this relationship moving forward.”

“You don’t,” Percy said quietly.

“I’m sorry. You’re wonderful. I just… I’m not in this. It wouldn’t be fair to you to continue.”

“No,” Percy agreed. He looked at the candle on the table for a long moment and then blew it out. “Thanks for everything.”

“Yeah, of course. Thank you. I genuinely enjoyed my time with you.”

Percy nodded and looked around at the crew. “So, um…”

“I can walk you out,” Arthur suggested, and Percy nodded.

Arthur pushed away from the table and led Percy back down to the street where there was a car waiting to take Percy back to the hotel to pack up.

“I am sorry,” Arthur said, giving Percy one last hug.

“Don’t be.” Percy gave him a firm squeeze. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Arthur opened the door, watched Percy climb in, and then shut it after him.

The car drove away slowly, and Arthur could see the producers out of the corner of his eye, waiting for him to come over for an interview.

“Can we do this later?” he asked Leon.

Leon looked as guilty as Arthur felt. “It can be quick.”

“Fine.” Arthur ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. “What do you want me to say?”

“Just tell us why you sent Percy home.”

“Percy’s great,” Arthur said, trying to force some emotion into his voice. All he wanted to do was go back to his hotel and sleep. “He’s a lot of fun to spend time with, and I enjoyed getting to know him, but he’s not the one I’m meant to marry. I didn’t feel comfortable waiting to address that. It just became clear to me at some point today that it was time for him to go home.”

Leon gave him a long look.

“I didn’t want to send him home,” Arthur added. “I’ll miss him. But it was the right choice for me.”

Leon nodded. “Thank you. Do you want to go back to your room?”

“Yes. Please.”

Leon nodded again and Arthur was escorted into a van. He nearly fell asleep on the way, forcing his mind to be blissfully blank. He didn’t want think about how he was starting to send home people he had genuine positive feelings for, people he considered legitimate friends. He didn’t want to think about who he had left and what decisions he was going to have to make over the next few weeks. And he certainly didn’t want to think about his upcoming date with Merlin.

~~~~

There was one single date left before Arthur was meant to go home with the remaining contestants to meet their families, and Arthur had set it up to be with Merlin. He had put it off for long enough, not really daring to commit to an extended period of time alone with him. But he didn’t have any more excuses, and he’d run out of time, and it was Merlin’s turn.

He arranged for them to go shopping and then make dinner together back in Arthur’s hotel suite. He wanted something quiet, something intimate, something away from the bustle of the city where they could relax.

He wanted something real. And if that meant getting a glimpse of a life he could never have, then so be it. He could pretend, at least for a little while.

The shopping trip was quick. They rode in separate cars and then awkwardly navigated the grocery store aisles, Merlin with his phrasebook and Arthur with a shopping list.

“That’s…” Merlin flipped through his phrasebook as Arthur held up a jar of what he hoped was plain marinara sauce. “Meat sauce. I think.”

Arthur chuckled and put the jar back on the shelf and picked up another. “All right. How about this one?”

“That one should be good.”

“Should be?”

“You can’t blame me if this recipe doesn’t work out,” Merlin said. “I don’t actually speak this language.”

“Could you try?” Arthur asked.

“I _am_ trying!”

“No, I mean, I want to hear you try to say this out loud,” Arthur said, pointing to the label on the jar.

Merlin smirked and took the jar. “G…gee-yord med… farska ingree…dee-yen-ser.”

“I’m sure that’s exactly it.”

“Shush. You try then. Go on.” Merlin picked up a box of pasta from the box and had Arthur try to read the instructions out loud.

“Coke… coke-a ee tee-yo min-oo-ter.”

“It really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?”

Arthur took the phrasebook out of Merlin’s hand to whack him with it.

“Rude!” Merlin said, laughing and rubbing the spot on his arm where Arthur had hit him.

“How do you say ‘rude’ in Swedish?”

Merlin took the book back and flipped through a few pages. “Jesus. Um… off… of-ford—nope. Of-forsk-cam? Cammed. Off-forks, I mean, Off-forsk-amd. Oh, shut up.”

Arthur continued laughing and took the phrase book away again before Merlin could hurt himself.

“Do we need anything else?” Merlin asked.

“Just drinks. I have some wine back at the hotel,” Arthur said. “Unless you want something else?”

Merlin shook his head, so they went to go check out. They rode back to the hotel in separate cars, but then they were finally alone—with a few members of the crew—in Arthur’s suite.

“Do you do a lot of cooking at home?” Merlin asked as he chopped up some vegetables to add to the sauce.

“A fair amount,” Arthur said from where he was leaning over the phrasebook. “I try not to eat out too much. You?”

“I do a lot of bulk cooking. Like, I’ll make a shit ton of food on Sunday and eat it during the week.”

“Sounds efficient.”

“How do you say ‘efficient’ in Swedish?”

Arthur flipped through the book. “Ah! Effective. Not so hard, that one.”

“It just says ‘effective’?”

“Well, it’s spelled weird, but yeah.”

Merlin shook his head. “Of-forsk-amd.”

Arthur chuckled and went over to grab a few bites of chopped up carrots from Merlin’s carefully organised piles.

“Are you going to help or just eat?” Merlin asked, smiling.

Arthur gave Merlin a quick kiss. “Both, I suppose. If you insist.”

“You could at least boil some water.”

“Ugh.” Arthur pretended to vomit. “That’s so much work.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Hey!” Arthur laughed. “That’s very of-fork-can.”

“Close enough.”

Arthur grinned and went in for another kiss before he set to cooking their pasta.

Merlin was painfully easy to spend time with. They hadn’t gotten into any serious conversations yet, and he kind of dreaded the moment when they would because he was having a good time just pretending to be normal. Merlin was a calming presence, and he was funny, and Arthur wanted the night to continue exactly as it had been. He didn’t want to get into how he felt or why he was so scared of this or what would happen the next week when it came time for Arthur to meet everyone’s families. He just wanted to make a nice dinner with Merlin and get drunk on Swedish wine.

“Klart?” Merlin asked once everything was in the oven.

“Mario Kart,” Arthur agreed.

Merlin snorted. “It means ‘all done’.”

“All done for now. Should we clean up while we wait?”

Merlin scrunched up his nose, and Arthur laughed.

“How about this, then?” he asked, leaning in for a kiss.

Merlin tugged Arthur closer and leant against the counter as their kiss deepened. He got his arms around Arthur’s neck, and Arthur got his around Merlin’s waist, and it wasn’t long before Arthur felt like he was drowning in Merlin’s lips.

“Yeah,” he breathed, leaning his head to the side when Merlin started pressing kisses to his neck.

Merlin murmured his agreement and nipped at Arthur’s collar bone before moving back up for another kiss. Arthur dug his hands into Merlin’s hair, holding him close, and Merlin let his own hands move down to Arthur’s arse.

Arthur gasped as Merlin squeezed him, their hips pressing together. Merlin went back to kissing Arthur’s neck, and Arthur was nearly moaning by the time he realised where they were—and who they were kissing in front of.

“Merlin,” he whispered, and Merlin lifted his head.

“Yeah?”

“We should stop.”

Merlin smirked and tried to move away, but Arthur grabbed his hips, holding him in place.

“Not yet,” he said quietly, afraid his half-hard cock would be visible in his jeans if he turned back towards the cameras.

Merlin laughed and flung his arms back around Arthur’s neck, hugging Arthur close.

“Of-forsk-amd,” he said quietly.

“You wish.”

Merlin chuckled and leaned back a little. “Thanks for finally asking me out.”

“Of course,” Arthur said, feeling a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry I made you wait so long.”

“It was well worth the wait.”

Arthur nipped at Merlin’s nose before letting him go. They checked the oven and then went to sit at the table with their wine while they finished waiting for the food to be done.

“So,” Arthur said, more because he had to then because he wanted to. “Next week.”

Merlin bit his lower lip. “What about it?”

“Well, if… I mean. If I were to meet your family, who would I be meeting?”

“My mum,” Merlin answered. “It’s just her. My dad was never in the picture. I’d probably have you meet my friend Will, as well. He’s like a brother to me.”

Arthur nodded. “What would they think of me?”

“Unless you’re very of-forsk-amd, I think they’ll like you just fine. Will might be a bit protective, but he means well. My mum will love you. She’s happy as long as I am.”

“Are you?” Arthur asked quietly.

Merlin nodded, going red. “Yeah. You make me happy.”

Arthur felt warm all over, and it wasn’t from the wine or the heat emanating from the oven. “You make me happy, too.”

Merlin smiled and knocked his glass against Arthur’s before taking a drink.

“What about your family?” he asked.

“What about them?”

“If I were to meet them eventually, what would they be like?”

Arthur sighed and swirled his wine around. “Well. There’s my sister, Morgana. She’d love you, probably. And my uncle, Agravaine. He’s… he’s a tough judge of character, but I think you’d do fine.”

“And your dad?”

Arthur shrugged, not wanting to get into it in front of the cameras. “He’ll like you,” he lied. “He just wants me to be happy.”

_With a woman_, Arthur finished in his head.

“What did your family think after you came out last season?”

“They were supportive,” Arthur said, lying again. Morgana had been supportive. Agravaine had been neutral. His father had been furious. “Morgana, especially. She was impressed, I guess. I told her before I left for the show that I wasn’t going to come out on it, but obviously I changed my mind halfway through the process.”

“Why did you?”

“I didn’t want to be in a relationship based on a lie.”

Merlin nodded. “Makes sense. Are you glad you did it?”

“I am,” Arthur said slowly. “It’s led me to this moment, so I have to be glad.”

Merlin smiled and looked like he was about to say something else, but then the timer went off.

Arthur got up and pulled out the lasagne, doling out portions for him and Merlin and serving them back at the table. The cameras continued rolling even as they ate, and Arthur felt surprisingly self-conscious eating in front of an audience.

“This is amazing,” Merlin said around a mouthful of food, apparently not self-conscious in the slightest. “Thank you.”

Arthur swallowed before responding. “You did most of the work,” he admitted.

“Yes, but you compiled everything at the end.”

“Well, then I thank you for noticing my compiling skills.”

Merlin rolled his eyes and shovelled in another mouthful.

“Can I ask,” Arthur said after he’d had a few bites, “you mentioned you’d been to Prague. And you’re the only one I’ve seen with phrasebooks or anything this whole time. Do you travel a lot?”

“I try to,” Merlin said, wiping off his mouth. “I like to. I wish I got to more, but it’s hard to save up for it.”

“Are librarians not rich?”

“Have you ever met a rich librarian?”

Arthur winked, and Merlin laughed.

“Where have you been?”

Merlin took a sip of wine before rattling off a long list of European cities, followed by a few Asian cities. “And Sydney,” he finished.

“Australia?”

“Yeah, for a week with my friend Will. We went to a few other places while we were there, but Sydney was our home base.”

“Do you travel a lot with him?”

“Are you jealous?” Merlin teased.

“No,” Arthur lied. “Just curious.”

Merlin shrugged. “Sometimes, if we can coordinate our schedules. I’ve travelled plenty on my own, though. Hence my reliance on phrasebooks.”

“Makes sense.” Arthur eyed the candle on the middle of the table, not wanting their date to be over but knowing the producers wouldn’t let them carry on indefinitely. “So… do you want me to come meet your family next week?”

“Do _you_ want to?”

“I do,” Arthur said. “But I want you to want it as well.”

“I do,” Merlin said quickly. “I really do.”

“Okay,” Arthur said, grinning. “Good.” He reached for the candle. “Merlin, will you carry a torch for me?”

“Fuck yes.” Merlin took the candle happily. “Thank you.”

Arthur leaned forward for a kiss. “You’re very welcome.”

They kissed again and then hurried through dessert before the producers took Merlin back to his own hotel room.

“Ready?” Leon asked once Merlin was gone.

Arthur wasn’t, but he allowed the interview anyway.

“Tell us how today went.”

“The more I get to know Merlin,” Arthur said, trying to stay open and honest, “the more I see how many good qualities he has. He has a lot of what I’m looking for in a partner, and it’s easy to be excited about him. I see a lot of potential with him.”

“What doubts do you have?” Leon asked.

“I don’t have any doubts about Merlin,” Arthur lied. “I have doubts about… about the amount of time left in this journey. I want to come out on the other side of this engaged, and there’s only a few weeks left. If anything, I’m scared I won’t be able to get to that place—to that place of being sure I’m in love and sure I want to propose—in that short amount of time. There’s nothing wrong with Merlin or anyone else here, it’s just me. It’s starting to get a lot more serious.”

Leon frowned a little, and Arthur realised he’d gone off topic.

“What are you worried about?”

“I’m worried I won’t find love,” Arthur said. He was also worried about ending up with a man. Or ending with a woman he didn’t love. He was worried about his family, and about getting engaged after only a few short months, and about getting his heart broken again if he made the wrong choices.

He was worried about a lot.

~~~~

There weren’t any more dates planned that week, so Arthur moved forward with the cocktail party even though he wasn’t planning to send anyone else home. He still wanted to talk to the other contestants about meeting their families before giving out the rest of the candles.

“I’d love you to meet my dad,” Elena said when he asked. “He’ll love to meet you, too.”

“My mum and my sister would love to meet you,” Gwaine said. “Just don’t believe anything they tell you about me.”

“You can meet my dad,” Mithian said. “It’ll have to be low-key, but it’ll be good. He’ll like you, I think.”

With that, since Percy had already been sent home, Arthur gave out three candles and then went back to his hotel room to pack to fly home to England.

~~~~

For home visits, Arthur went to Mithian’s first. Her father’s manor was large and old and beautiful. It was full of memories for Mithian, too, Arthur found as she gave him a tour. He saw where she’d had her first kiss, where she’d last seen her mother, where she’d stood when she found out she got into uni, where she’d been when she’d got the call about her father’s assault.

Her father, Rodor, was a sweet man. Quiet, tired, a little wan, and very mild—but sweet. He asked about Arthur’s family, Arthur’s job, Arthur’s interest in his daughter. It was clear he didn’t like the _Most Eligible_ process or the fact that Arthur was still dating other people, but he took his cues from Mithian and treated Arthur kindly.

Arthur enjoyed watching Mithian with her father. She was attentive but not suffocating, always ready when needed but careful not to push or assume. She obviously loved her father, and Arthur could appreciate that. He liked seeing her in her natural environment, and he could imagine slotting into her life, taking care of Rodor with her, living out life in this manor with a few kids and a dog to keep Rodor company. It seemed like it would be a good life.

“Thank you for coming,” Mithian said when she and Arthur stood outside together at the end of the night. “Thank you for being you.”

Arthur kissed her gently. “Thank you for having me. I had a lovely time. Your father is wonderful.”

Mithian smiled. “Thank you.”

Arthur kissed her again and then stepped back with a sigh. “I have to go.”

“I know. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” Arthur said, meaning it. He gave her a long hug and then got into the car that would take him to the airport so he could fly to the next home visit.

Leon was in the car, ready to interview him as soon as they drove away.

“Today was excellent,” Arthur said honestly. “I loved getting to see Mithian with her dad. She’s so gentle with him, and it’s obvious how much they love each other and like to be around each other. I’d be so lucky to end with Mithian, someone so kind and genuine and generous. I’m proud that she’s here. Like, I want to brag about her. It doesn’t quite feel real that she’s interested in me.”

“She’s interested in you,” Leon promised. “Her interviews are always very explicit.”

“Yeah?” The thought made Arthur smile, and he found himself looking forward to the series being over so he could watch everything back and see what Mithian had to say about him. He imagined watching it with her, curled up together in Rodor’s living room, and that thought made him smile, too.

~~~~

Arthur went to Gwaine’s after that. His mother and sister were exactly as Arthur had imagined—loud, hilarious, protective of Gwaine, and a very good time. They spent the evening plying Arthur with stories of Gwaine’s younger years, and by the end of the night Arthur’s sides hurt from laughter.

“Sorry about them,” Gwaine said when he finally got Arthur to himself towards the end of the date. “They were _very_ excited to meet you.”

“I liked meeting them,” Arthur said honestly. “I had a good time.”

“Yeah? They liked you.”

“How could you tell?”

“They didn’t tell you the _really_ bad stories.”

Arthur laughed. “I’ll have to come back, then. I want the full picture.”

Gwaine smirked and brushed a hand over Arthur’s hair. “Do you have to head out?”

“Mhm.”

“Shame.”

“Mhm,” Arthur said again before leaning in for a kiss.

Gwaine pulled him close, and they kissed against the front door to Gwaine’s house until Gwaine started grabbing at Arthur’s arse.

“You know there’s cameras, right?” Arthur asked, laughing as Gwaine got his hands into Arthur’s back pockets.

“Who cares?”

“I do,” Arthur admitted. “Your mum probably doesn’t need to see this footage, either.”

Gwaine laughed and let Arthur step away. “I guess that’s fair.”

Arthur went in for one last quick kiss and then hopped in the car to be driven back to his hotel room.

~~~~

Elena was next, and her father, Godwyn, pulled Arthur aside as soon as they were finished with dinner.

“Thank you for having me,” Arthur said as he sat down in one of the large arm chairs in the living room. “Dinner was wonderful.”

“Elena’s a good cook,” Godwyn said proudly. “She’s a good person.”

“I agree,” Arthur said quickly. “I wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t.”

“What are you looking for?” Godwyn asked seriously. “What are your intentions with Elena?”

Arthur tried not to squirm. “I know this is an unconventional situation—”

“She deserves the best. She doesn’t deserve to be one of many.”

“She wouldn’t be if it’s her at the end of this,” Arthur said. “I intend to end this with one partner.”

“Partner,” Godwyn repeated. “That’s a serious word considering you’ve only known her a few weeks.”

“That’s what I’m looking for. Those are my intentions. I want a partner.”

Godwyn nodded and considered Arthur for a long while. “I want you to promise me something.”

Arthur nodded, hoping it was going to be a reasonable request.

“If you have any doubts, don’t lead her on. I don’t want to see her hurt.”

Arthur nodded again, his stomach tying itself in knots. He had doubts about all of his relationships. Elena was no different in that respect.

“She’s an extraordinary woman,” Godwyn said. “She deserves extraordinary love.”

“Well said.”

Godwyn shook Arthur’s hand to end the conversation, and Arthur went to say goodbye to Elena. He found her in the kitchen, nervously wiping down the counters.

“Hey,” he said, pulling the cloth out of her hand and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Come outside?”

Elena followed him out front where a car was waiting to take him to the airport.

“What did my dad say?” she asked.

“That you deserve extraordinary love.”

Elena laughed. “That sounds about right. I hope he didn’t scare you off.”

“No,” Arthur lied. “He’s just looking out for you. He loves you.”

Elena nodded happily, and Arthur kissed her.

“I wish I didn’t have to leave,” he said, more for the cameras than for her. He was very ready to leave. “I enjoyed tonight.”

“Yeah? I’m glad. I’m glad you came. I’m glad you and my dad get along.”

“He’s nice,” Arthur said truthfully. “I can see where you get it from.”

Elena grinned, and Arthur kissed her again.

“Do you really have to go?” she asked, holding his hands tightly.

“Unfortunately.” He gave her hands a squeeze before taking a step back. “I’ll see you soon.”

Elena went in for one last kiss. “Soon.”

Arthur gave her a wave as he hopped into the car.

“How was it?” Leon asked, ready as ever.

“Perfect,” Arthur said with a twinge of guilt that he knew he wasn’t going to be choosing Elena at the end of this. “Elena and her dad were wonderful hosts. They’re very funny together, very sweet, and it was nice to see that side of Elena.”

“What did you think about what where father said?”

“I think he loves his daughter very much. It makes sense that he’s wary of this process. If I was a father, I wouldn’t be excited to see my daughter in Elena’s position. It’s only natural he’d be feeling protective of her. I really respect what he said, and it’s definitely something I’m going to have to think about.”

Leon looked surprised. “I thought you liked Elena.”

“I do like Elena. I like Mithian and Gwaine and Merlin, too. Now’s the time when I have to really start weighing these relationships against each other to try to decide who I want to be with. I’d be lucky if it was Elena—we obviously have something great between us. But nothing is a guarantee at this point.”

~~~~

Merlin’s home in Ealdor was the last on the agenda for the week. He met Arthur in a park with his friend Will, and the two of them gave Arthur a tour of the village, which was laughably small.

“It’s charming,” Arthur said when they had circled back to the park. “I can’t imagine living here, but it’s charming.”

“It’s not,” Merlin said, laughing. “That’s why I moved.”

“And left me here,” Will said, miming stabbing himself in the heart. “All alone.”

Merlin shoved Will, who laughed, and Arthur bit down a smile. He liked seeing Merlin with his friend. It was reassuring to see that he was the same person away from home as he was surrounded by familiar places and people.

“Shall we go meet the mums?” Merlin asked.

“You have two mums?” Arthur asked, thinking that was an important piece of information Merlin would have shared earlier.

“Practically. Will’s mum is coming to dinner as well, if that’s all right?”

“Of course,” Arthur said quickly. “The more the merrier.”

Merlin took Arthur’s hand, and the three of them walked the short distance to Merlin’s mother’s house.

“It’s not much,” Merlin said when they reached the front door.

“I’m sure it’s lovely.” Arthur pressed a kiss to the back of Merlin’s hand before letting it go.

“Can I borrow you before we head in?” Will asked suddenly.

Merlin looked alarmed. “Will, don’t—”

“It won’t take long,” Will said, his gaze on Arthur. “I promise.”

Arthur felt uneasy, but he didn’t want to cause an argument. “It’s fine,” he told Merlin. “Go see your mum. We’ll be right in.”

Merlin agreed hesitantly and went inside with a few members of the crew that had been following them around. The rest stayed outside with Arthur and Will, moving in closer to capture their conversation.

“Look, you seem like a… a guy,” Will said. “A nice guy, I guess. But this whole thing you’re doing is weird and little fucked up, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Arthur agreed. “It is. I’m not doing it to hurt anyone, though.”

“Someone’s going to get hurt, though,” Will pointed out. “And if it’s going to be Merlin, I just want you to know that you’d be making a mistake. And if I ever see you again, you might get hit.”

Arthur laughed nervously, not entirely sure if Will was taking the piss. “Thanks for the warning.”

Will smiled, big and bold. “You’re welcome. Let’s go in.”

Shaking off their conversation, Arthur followed Will inside.

Merlin’s mother, Hunith, was incredibly kind, and Arthur loved seeing Merlin with her. Merlin was so gentle around her, so sweet and loving. And Hunith was the same towards him—and to Will, and even to Arthur. She fed them all right away, and even though it wasn’t the best homemade dinner Arthur had ever had, he enjoyed every second of it. Hunith and Will’s mum kept them all entertained with stories of their sons as young children and all the trouble they used to get up to, and Arthur felt like part of the family already.

The night came to an end far too quickly, but just as Arthur was about to make his excuses, Hunith pulled him out into the back garden.

“Thank you for dinner,” Arthur said once they were outside. “It was wonderful.”

“You’re welcome. I just wanted to say that I see what’s between you and my son.”

Arthur felt himself starting to go red.

“You make him happy. He needs that. And I think he makes you happy, too.”

“He does,” Arthur said quietly. “He makes me very happy.”

“Then I hope I get to see you again.”

“Me too,” Arthur said, wishing he could just stay in Ealdor and forget the rest of the show.

“And if I don’t, I hope you let him down nicely.”

“Of course,” Arthur said, the thought of letting down Merlin in any way shaking him more than he had expected. The last thing he wanted in that moment was to say goodbye to Merlin, finding a wife be damned. He didn’t want to lose Merlin.

He didn’t want to lose Merlin.

That thought kept repeating itself in his head as Arthur said goodbye to Hunith and Will and Will’s mum. He pulled Merlin outside with him and gave him a long, hungry kiss in the front garden.

“Wow,” Merlin breathed when Arthur pulled back. “What was that for?”

“For you.”

Merlin smiled, and Arthur leaned in and nuzzled his nose before giving him another kiss.

“Thanks for tonight. Your family is wonderful.”

“I hope Will didn’t threaten you.”

Arthur shrugged. “I don’t think he meant it.”

“No, he did.”

“Guess I’ll have to heed his warning, then.”

Merlin smiled and took Arthur’s hands in his. “I guess this is goodbye for now.”

“For now,” Arthur agreed. “I’ll see you soon, though. And then we’re going to Denmark.”

“If I get a candle,” Merlin said, grinning like he understood that Arthur had already made up his mind.

“If you get a candle.” Arthur gave him another kiss before stepping back. “I’ll see you then.”

“See you!” Merlin called out as Arthur got into the car.

“Ready?” Leon asked as soon as the car took off.

Arthur glanced out the window at where Merlin was watching them drive away.

“Not really,” he said. “I need a minute.”

Leon let him sit quietly for a moment, and Arthur did his best to collect his thoughts.

He didn’t want to lose Merlin.

For the longest time, his entire goal had been to make it to the end with a fiancée in hand—with a future wife. That’s what he had signed up for, that’s what he had been aiming for, and that was what he had come here to accomplish.

Now, all he wanted to do was cancel the show and run off with Merlin.

“What are you thinking?” Leon asked.

Arthur sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I have no idea,” he admitted.

“Tell me.”

Arthur looked down at his knees. “I like Merlin a lot,” he said. “I like him more than I thought I did.”

When he looked back up, Leon was staring at him with raised eyebrows.

“I really can’t do this right now,” Arthur said, willing to beg. “Please. I need more time.”

Leon nodded and let Arthur sit for the rest of the ride in silence.

When they reached his hotel in the next town over, he let Leon interview him.

“How was tonight?” Leon asked, starting off easy.

“Tonight was great,” Arthur said. “Merlin’s family is wonderful, and they made me feel like I fit right in. I enjoyed getting to know Merlin’s mum and seeing where he gets his kindness from.”

“How are you feeling about Merlin?”

“I like Merlin a lot,” Arthur said again. He took a deep breath. “The truth… the truth is that I came here to try to find a wife. I thought that’s what I wanted. I’m bisexual, but… I don’t know. It’s not necessarily a preference thing, it’s more of a… internalised biphobia thing. I’ve been struggling with it more and more as the weeks go on. I thought I knew what I wanted, but I think was I was just letting outside pressures get to me. Merlin is really making me reconsider what I came here for, and it’s scary.”

Leon looked a little stunned at Arthur’s confession. “What do you want now?”

“I don’t know what I want,” Arthur said honestly. “I know what the easy thing would be. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’d be the right thing. The right thing for me, for my future. I’m just… confused. I have some amazing people here, and it’s getting more and more difficult to decipher what I really want.”

“It seems like you want Merlin,” Leon pointed out.

“I want to be happy,” Arthur said, ready for the interview to be over. He’d been more honest in the past five minutes than he had been all series, and he was ready for bed. “I want to get to the end of this and be confident in my relationship.”

“Do you still want to get engaged?”

“I don’t know,” Arthur admitted. “Getting engaged was my main goal coming into this. I think, at this point, it’s more important for me to figure out these relationships. If I can get to that point where I feel so strongly about someone that I want to engaged, I have no qualms about proposing. But right now I have no idea what I’m doing, and the thought of getting engaged… it’s just not my priority right this second.”

Leon nodded. “Anything else?”

Arthur shook his head.

“Well,” Leon said with a sigh. “I’m sorry you’re struggling so much with this. I didn’t realise.”

“Yeah. I didn’t want it to become a thing. But… it’s becoming too much of an issue for me to keep ignoring it. Merlin’s really changing a lot for me.”

Leon did a bad job of hiding his smile. “I knew you liked him, but…”

“Yeah. Well.”

“Ready to head inside?” Leon asked, opening the car door.

“Very,” Arthur said, getting out and heading straight for his room.

~~~~

That week’s Candle Ceremony took place in London, at a hotel near the airport so the contestants moving on could immediately be flown off to Copenhagen.

It had been two days since Arthur had been to Ealdor, and he’d spent the entirety of those two days wracked with indecision. He had to send someone home. He had to say goodbye to someone. And he didn’t know what he was going to do.

Merlin was staying. There was no question. Arthur wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

Mithian was staying. She was the one person left that Arthur knew beyond a shadow of doubt he could end up with and be happy for the rest of his life.

That left Gwaine and Elena. Both of them were hilarious. Both of them were kind and amazing and so much fun to be around.

So it just came down to who had more potential as Arthur’s partner. Arthur knew it was Elena. Gwaine was hot and fun, but there wasn’t much deeper between them.

But, out of the remaining women, Mithian was still his first choice. And he had made a promise to Elena’s father.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Kilgharrah said to kick off the Candle Ceremony. “Tonight, Arthur will decide who he will take to Copenhagen, Denmark for the overnight dates. If your name is not called, you will be going home tonight. Good luck.”

Arthur closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reaching for the first candle.

“Mithian,” he said. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

Mithian stepped forward to accept the candle. “Yes,” she said simply. She gave him a small smile and then went to stand to the side, holding the candle close.

“Merlin,” Arthur said next. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

Merlin took the candle with a grin. “Of course.”

When Merlin had joined Mithian, Arthur reached for the last candle, damning the whole situation and the fact that he’d willingly signed up for it.

“Gwaine. Will you carry a torch for me?”

Gwaine accepted the candle with a nod and went to stand with Merlin and Mithian, looking a little stunned.

“Elena,” Kilgharrah said, stepping back on set. “I’m sorry, but you’re going home. Say your goodbyes.”

Elena was already crying when Mithian went over and gave her a huge hug. Merlin followed, and Gwaine, and then Arthur walked Elena outside where there was a car waiting for her.

“I’m so sorry,” he said honestly. “I wish I could take you with me.”

“But?” Elena asked, a sharp edge to her voice.

“But it wouldn’t be fair. You’re… you know how wonderful you are, but I have stronger relationships, and I had to make a choice.”

Elena heaved a big sigh and wiped her eyes. “I know. Thanks for showing me a good time.”

“Thanks for being one of my best friends here,” Arthur said, and Elena smiled.

He gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she got into the car. It drove off, and Arthur stayed outside for a while, trying to convince himself that he was still on the right path.

“Arthur?” Leon finally asked. “Are you ready?”

He wasn’t, but he nodded anyway and turned toward the camera.

“I had to send Elena home tonight,” he said. “She’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, but I have to follow my gut. My heart. We would have needed more time, and I just didn’t have the time to give to her. Her father said it—she deserves extraordinary love. I can’t give that to her, so I had to let her go.”

He could feel himself choking up, the stress of the whole process finally getting to him. He gave Leon an imploring look, and Leon nodded, ending the interview. Arthur turned away from the cameras and crouched down, trying to get his emotions under control.

“Hey,” Leon said, crouching down next to him. “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Arthur admitted. “This is getting really hard.”

“This is always when it gets hard. You remember what it was like for Gwen.”

Arthur nodded and sniffed. “Yeah. Yeah.” He stood back up. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Leon nodded and pulled out his walkie talkie to call Arthur’s car to the airport.


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur chose Mithian for his first overnight date in Copenhagen. He took her for a long walk along the canal, and then they took a leisurely boat ride.

“This place is beautiful,” Mithian said, curling up at Arthur’s side.

Arthur wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “It is,” he agreed. He kissed her forehead. “So are you.”

Mithian grinned and laced her fingers with his. “You’re such a charmer.”

“Didn’t you once tell me you almost shit yourself on one of our dates?”

“I was hoping you would have forgotten that slip.”

“How could I possibly forget that?”

Mithian laughed. “I don’t know. Out of courtesy?”

Arthur grinned and gave her a soft kiss. “Nah. I like your candour.”

“Good to know. What else do you like about me?”

Arthur knew she was only teasing, but he decided to answer anyway. It was entirely possible she was who he was going to end up with at the end of this process, which meant they were going to get engaged. Which meant they were likely going to get married. She should know how he felt about her.

“I liked seeing you with your dad,” he said quietly. “You’re amazing with him. You’re amazing in general, in case you didn’t know.”

Mithian kissed him gently. “Thank you. I know my situation isn’t conventional.”

“As if anything about what we’re doing is conventional,” Arthur teased. “I don’t mind things being a little out of the ordinary. He seems like a good man. I’d be lucky to have you both in my life.”

Mithian leaned closer. “Thank you.”

They stayed on the boat through sunset and then were separately briefly to eat dinner and change for the evening portion of their date. They met up again at a suite in a fancy hotel where there was dessert and wine waiting for them.

“This is nice,” Mithian said, settling on the sofa with her wine glass. “This is definitely the fanciest hotel room I’ve ever been in.”

“It is very fancy,” Arthur agreed and helped himself to a chocolate morsel. “Did you have a good time today?”

“I don’t love boats,” Mithian admitted, “but yes. I had a good time with you.”

“Why don’t you like boats?”

“They’re so small,” Mithian whined. “There’s no escape. What if it caught fire?”

Arthur laughed. “Why would it catch fire?”

“I don’t know. Why not?”

“Well… even if it did, you could just jump off and be safe in the water.”

Mithian waved her hand dismissively, and Arthur laughed again, enjoying that she could be silly with him.

“Thanks for braving the boat for me,” he said and leaned forward for a kiss. “I had a good time. I shall try to remember in the future that you hate helicopters and boats.”

“I don’t hate them,” she protested. “I just don’t love them. Unless I’m with you, apparently.”

Arthur grinned and gave her another kiss. She got her free hand in his hair, holding him close and deepening the kiss.

“Mithian,” Arthur murmured against her lips, not wanting to go further in front of the cameras.

“Yeah.”

Arthur leaned back and picked up an envelope from the table. Inside was a note from Kilgharrah, along with a symbolic key. He handed Mithian the note.

“Arthur and Mithian,” she read. “We hope you are enjoying your stay in beautiful Copenhagen. If you decide to forego your individual rooms, you can use this key to stay as a couple in the adjoining suite. Kilgharrah.”

“What do you say?” Arthur asked.

Mithian looked up from the note with a smile. “I’m up for it if you are.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Arthur gave her a quick kiss and then stood so the crew could de-mic him.

Once they were well and truly alone, cameras and sound guys and producers all gone, Arthur gave Mithian another kiss.

“Hi,” he said quietly.

“Hi,” she said, giggling a little. “It’s, uh… this is weird, huh?”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s nice, though.”

“Very.” She considered him for a moment before shoving him down on the sofa and straddling his lap. She went in for a kiss and Arthur wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her closer.

“What’s your favourite television series?” she asked, pulling back suddenly.

Arthur cracked up. “What?”

“I want to know. I want to know more things about you.”

Arthur nodded, trying to get his brain to switch gears. “Um… would it be lame of me to say ‘Game of Thrones’? I know that’s everyone’s favourite, but—”

“I love it too,” Mithian said quickly. “And ‘Doctor Who’, those are definitely my favourites.”

“I haven’t watched since David Tennant,” Arthur admitted, “but I used to love it.”

“He was the best Doctor.” She looked down at Arthur and gave him another kiss before climbing off and landing on the sofa next to him. “Thank you again for being so good about my dad. Normally guys are really put off by it.”

“They’re arseholes, then,” Arthur said. “Your dad’s perfectly nice. Everyone has baggage.”

“What’s yours?”

“My dad is not perfectly nice,” Arthur admitted. “He was furious when I came on this show. Furious I was dating a black girl, furious I came out as bisexual, furious I came back on the show, furious I was going to be dating men _and_ women in front of the whole world. He’s just generally angry with me most of the time.”

“I’m sorry,” Mithian said. “That’s rubbish. You’re just being yourself.”

Arthur shrugged. “Not being the version of myself he would prefer, I guess.”

“Does he not like that you’re bi? I don’t mind it, by the way. I guess we haven’t really talked about it.”

“I figured it wasn’t an issue,” Arthur said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be here. And you’re straight?”

“Yeah. Lame, I know.”

Arthur laughed. “Nah, it’s fine.”

Mithian reached out for one of his hands. “Tell me more about you.”

“What would you like to know?”

“What’s this process been like for you?” Mithian asked. “Seems like it would be stressful.”

“Honestly?” Arthur gave her hand a squeeze. “I spend 90% of my non-camera time sleeping. It would definitely be too stressful, otherwise. I’d be too caught up in my head thinking about…” He gestured around them. “If I slowed down enough to really consider what I’m doing, I think I’d lose it.”

Mithian smiled and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re managing.”

Arthur hummed in agreement, and the fell into a comfortable silence until Mithian asked, “What do you think of the Queen?”

Arthur laughed. “Why?”

“Dunno. Seemed like the least controversial political figure to ask about.”

“She’s not really political.”

“Not really,” Mithian agreed. “How about the Prime Minister, then?”

Arthur looked over at her. “Do you really want to know?”

“I’m not looking to date someone with completely opposite political opinions,” Mithian said. “That relationship wouldn’t last very long.”

“No,” Arthur agreed, and he started testing the waters with a few of his opinions. Mithian was mostly on the same page, which he appreciated, and after they got bored of politics they went back to talking about ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Doctor Who’ until it was late and they were both struggling to keep their eyes open.

“Should we fuck?” Mithian asked, slumping a little further down on the sofa.

Arthur laughed. “Yeah. I definitely have the energy for that.”

Mithian giggled and leaned her head on his shoulder. “We’re bad at the overnight date.”

“Nah. I didn’t sleep with Gwen last season. It’s not a requirement or anything.”

“Really?” she asked, looking surprised.

“Well…” Arthur could feel himself blushing. “We did some stuff. Just not… you know.”

Mithian smirked and leaned up for a kiss. “Good to know, I suppose. Should we get to bed?”

“Probably should. I don’t even want to know what time it is.”

Mithian looked around for a clock. “The microwave says 4am.”

Arthur groaned. “God, I haven’t stayed up this late in years.”

“Definitely bed time, then.”

Arthur murmured his agreement and got off the sofa with a grunt. “I’ll change in the bath,” he offered, grabbing his bag from the corner.

When he came out, Mithian was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, looking adorably sleepy.

“Thanks for today,” Arthur said, pulling her in for a hug. “And all our other days.”

Mithian grinned and gave him a long kiss. “Oh, anytime.”

Arthur laughed and tugged her towards the bed.

~~~~

Arthur spent the next day alone, thinking over his date with Mithian and convincing himself they should end up together. Mithian was everything he’d ever wanted in a partner. He’d come on the show to find a potential wife, and if that wasn’t Mithian then he didn’t know who it could possibly ever be. She was perfect. She was nice, she was funny, she was adventurous, she liked the same shows as he did and held the same beliefs. She had a complicated family, but so did he, and they could support each other through that. They could support each other through the media circus that was going to be their lives after the series wrapped. They could support each other through the awkward first few weeks after the show, when they’d be engaged despite barely knowing each other. They could support each other through whatever. Arthur knew Mithian wouldn’t back down when things got hard.

What more could he ask for in a partner? She had to be the one.

The day after that, Gwaine had the next overnight date. They spent the day at an amusement park, getting thoroughly exhausted, and they were both low on energy by the time they reached the hotel suite.

“Oof,” Gwaine grunted as he plopped down on the sofa. “I’m done in.”

Arthur laughed and joined him, flopping down and resting his head in Gwaine’s lap. Gwaine started playing lazily with his hair.

“Today was good,” Arthur declared. It had been good, clean fun with no drama or serious conversations or any major reminders about the process Arthur was going through. All they had done was eat junk food and go on rides and play silly games to win useless prizes.

“Today was excellent,” Gwaine agreed. He leaned down for a kiss. “Should we do the thing?”

“Not yet!” a producer called from across the room.

Arthur sighed and pulled a face, and Gwaine laughed.

“We don’t have anything else to talk about!” Arthur shouted back after a moment.

“Say something lovely dovey!”

Arthur groaned, but he played along and reached up to tuck a stray curl behind Gwaine’s ear. “I’m glad we have this time together.”

“Me, too. I can’t wait to get you all to myself.”

Arthur laughed and sat up for a proper kiss. He let it linger for a while before pulling back and reaching for the envelope.

“Arthur and Gwaine,” he read dutifully. “We hope you are enjoying your stay in beautiful Copenhagen. If you decide to forego your individual rooms, you can use this key to stay as a couple in the adjoining suite. Kilgharrah.”

“I vote yes,” Gwaine said.

“Good. I vote yes, too.”

Before they could get de-mic’d, Gwaine leaned forward for a long, heavy kiss. He got his hands in Arthur’s hair and his tongue in Arthur’s mouth, putting on a real show for the cameras.

“Okay,” Arthur said when Gwaine pulled back for a breath. “Let’s do the thing.”

“Fucking finally.”

Arthur laughed and stood so the sound guy could come collect his mic. When they were alone again, Gwaine moved in for another, even longer kiss.

“So,” he said, pausing with his lips on Arthur’s jaw, “you’re picking Merlin, right?”

“What?”

“Merlin. It’s him, isn’t it?”

“I…” Arthur frowned and shifted away, not sure why Gwaine was ruining the moment like this.

“I don’t care,” Gwaine said, smiling easily. “You’re perfect together.”

“I’m choosing Mithian,” Arthur blurted out.

Gwaine frowned. “Why? I thought you liked Merlin.”

“I like them both.”

“Well, sure, but—”

“I’m choosing Mithian,” Arthur said again, more firmly.

“All right,” Gwaine said slowly. “Why, though?”

“Why are you asking?” Arthur asked, a little exasperated.

“Because I’m willing to hook up with you, no strings attached, and I’m interested in the outcome. Plus, Merlin is my friend, and I don’t want see you break his heart. I think you two make sense together.”

“I’m sure we do,” Arthur muttered.

“Arthur,” Gwaine said seriously. “What are you doing? You have the perfect guy right in front of you. Don’t blow it. Mithian’s great, but—”

“But nothing. It’s my choice, and I’ve made it.” Arthur rubbed his eyes tiredly. “And we’re not hooking up.”

“I was joking,” Gwaine said. “About that part, anyway. Not about the Merlin part.”

“Can we please drop it?”

“We could, but where’s the fun in that?”

Arthur groaned. “Did you know that you’re annoying?”

“I had an inkling. Seriously, though, Arthur. Why aren’t you picking Merlin? There’s clearly something between you. Every time we were on a group date, you couldn’t take your eyes off him. That definitely never happened with Mithian.”

Arthur sighed and rubbed at his eyes again. He just wanted to go to sleep. He wondered if he should just go ahead and send Gwaine home right then.

“What would you do in my position?” he asked dully. “My father may never speak with me again if I end up with a man.”

“That’s pathetic,” Gwaine said, and Arthur closed his eyes. “Fuck your dad. Do what would make _you_ happy. Merlin clearly makes you happier than Mithian.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?”

“No,” Arthur said quietly.

“Should I go?” Gwaine asked after a minute.

“No,” Arthur said again. “I’m sorry. I’m just stressed out.”

“Because of what?”

“Because of Merlin and Mithian.” Arthur glanced over at Gwaine. “I’m sorry it’s not you.”

Gwaine shrugged. “I knew it wasn’t going to be. I’m not heartbroken.”

“Thanks.”

“Honestly,” Gwaine said, “I thought it was going to be Merlin since we all went bowling. You tried so hard not to pay him any attention, I thought it obvious how you felt about him.”

Arthur sighed and rested his head back on the sofa. “I just… I always envisioned myself ending up with a woman, you know?”

“No.”

“Yeah. Well… could just be my father’s influence.”

“Could be,” Gwaine agreed. “But, seriously, Arthur, fuck him. If he can’t handle you being happy, he doesn’t deserve to be in your life.”

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should risk blowing up my whole family to be with someone I barely know.”

“You know him. And you love him.”

“I don’t—”

“Whatever, then. You care about him. You like him. You like him more than you like Mithian, and that’s worth paying attention to. Maybe you’re right—maybe you should end up with Mithian if what you really want is a wife. But you should still consider the alternative.”

“I’ve considered it, believe me.”

“I wish this wasn’t so hard for you,” Gwaine said.

Arthur sighed. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“Should we get some sleep?”

Arthur nodded, and they changed into pyjamas and got into the large bed. Gwaine started snoring almost immediately, but Arthur stayed up for another few hours, replaying their conversation and trying to convince himself he was still making the right choice with Mithian.

~~~~

Arthur had a day off before his final overnight date with Merlin, and he spent it hiding in his hotel room, desperate for just an ounce of clarity. He was so confused. He wanted to be with Mithian. He wanted to be with Merlin. He didn’t know who he wanted to be with more.

Except, that was a lie. He knew. He’d known for a while.

It just didn’t match up with the rest of what he wanted.

On the day of the overnight date, Arthur met up with Merlin in the city centre and rented some bikes to take around town. It was difficult to keep up a conversation weaving through the streets, though, so after a while they stopped at a food market for lunch.

“This place is beautiful,” Merlin said as they sat down with their hot dogs. “How’d you know I love bike riding?”

“I didn’t,” Arthur said. “I was actually just hoping you knew how to ride one.”

“I definitely do,” Merlin laughed. “I ride all the time back home. It’s how I get to work. And I like doing bike trails and stuff on weekends. Elena and I actually made plans to meet up after this is all over and go riding together somewhere.”

“That is delightfully unsurprising,” Arthur said, a little jealous. He hoped he would be able to remain friends with Elena after the series was finally over. And Merlin.

“What do you do with your weekends?” Merlin asked before taking a large bite of his lunch.

“Sometimes I borrow my sister’s dog and take it out to the park. Or I go to the park by myself to read. There’s a good farmers market by my place, I like to go there and buy all their stuff and cook up a storm at home.”

“Sounds fun,” Merlin said with a smile, and Arthur felt a pang in his chest. He wanted Merlin to come to the dog park with him, or the farmers market, or anywhere, really.

“Or I get lazy and stay home by myself to watch telly or play video games.”

“Still sounds fun. What games do you like to play?”

Arthur listed a few and then Merlin did the same, and they spent the rest of their lunch comparing their favourites and giving each other recommendations. It was fun, especially since Arthur knew there was little to no chance that this part of their conversation would ever make it on air. It was nice to just chat with Merlin about normal things like a normal person and not worry about how he might come across to all the viewers.

“So,” Merlin said when they were finally finished with their food, “more exploring?”

Arthur nodded and they hopped back onto their bikes. Arthur led the way, following a production van in the distance, until they reached an old tower.

“What’s this?”

“Rundetaarn,” Arthur said, guessing at the pronunciation. “How do you feel about heights?”

Merlin looked up at the tower. “We can climb it?”

“Yeah.”

Merlin grinned. “Awesome. Let’s go.”

Arthur followed Merlin inside where they climbed up a gradual spiral slope. Merlin took the opportunity to look out over the city at almost every window, and Arthur went happily along for the ride, holding Merlin’s hand for most of the climb. Despite the guilt he was feeling at leading Merlin on, Arthur fought to just stay in the moment and have a good time. There was no point in getting himself down when there was still so much time left. He had to play along with the rules of the show, and the easiest way to survive at this point was just act like this was any other normal date.

“Wow,” Merlin said when they finally reached the top. “Worth it.”

Arthur grinned and pulled Merlin in for a kiss. Merlin leaned against him, warm and comfortable, and Arthur’s chest ached a little that he wouldn’t be able to keep this.

They spent a while at the top, circling the whole tower a few times and taking ample photographs.

“How’s the date going so far?” a producer asked when Arthur was separated for an interview.

“I’m having a great time,” Arthur said honestly. “Merlin’s a really great person to do this kind of stuff with because he’ll have fun doing anything. We could be napping on a bench and he’d still be excited about it.”

The producer laughed and shook her head.

“I’m looking forward to the rest of our date,” Arthur finished. He turned to see Merlin walking back over, finished with his own interview. “Did you have a good time?” he teased.

“Always.” Merlin gave Arthur a quick kiss. “What next?”

Arthur grinned and, holding Merlin’s hand again, began the trek back down to their bikes.

They finished their date at a brewery and ordered a large flight which they took turns tasting.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Merlin said, slumping back a little in their booth. “Because it’s working.”

“We should have checked the ABV on these,” Arthur agreed.

Merlin slumped a little lower and knocked his foot against Arthur’s. Arthur smirked and knocked back. Apparently satisfied with that outcome, Merlin sat back up and reached for another beer to taste.

“Do you want kids?” Merlin asked out of nowhere.

“I think so,” Arthur said, figuring he might as well be honest rather than giving his usual affirmative answer. “It’s never been a priority, but I’m not against the idea. What about you?”

Merlin shrugged. “I feel about the same. It’s not my next goal.”

“What is your next goal?” Arthur asked, curious.

“I’d like to go back to school,” Merlin said. “I think I want to be a professor one day.”

“Yeah? Academia always scared me.”

Merlin smirked. “Yes, books and papers are so very, very frightening.”

Arthur knocked his foot against Merlin’s again, and Merlin trailed the toe of his shoe up Arthur’s shin. For some reason the gesture made Arthur blush.

“Tell me something else,” Merlin said.

“What?”

“Anything.”

Arthur thought for a moment, stumped until he remembered the small glass butterfly Merlin had given him towards the beginning of the show. “I like woodworking. I converted part of my dad’s basement into a shop. Sometimes I go there and work.”

Merlin looked surprised. “What do you make?”

“A lot of side tables,” Arthur said, laughing. “Nothing very complicated. Some bowls. I made a bench once.”

“How did you get into that?”

“I took a class once with some friends at uni. What about your glassblowing?”

“Also a class. Well, a lot of classes. I don’t have a studio set up in my flat or anything, so I just take classes sometimes, and the last one I took before I came here, I made that butterfly. Do you still have it?”

“I do,” Arthur said. It was tucked safely away in his lugged, wrapped in ample socks. “I love it.”

Merlin smiled proudly, and Arthur returned his smile easily. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment until Merlin finally looked away.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I need food,” he said, looking down at all the half-empty beer glasses in front of them.

“Yeah,” Arthur agreed. “Probably should eat before we get any more drunk.”

Taking the hint, the producers came over to end that part of their date. They were taken away in separate cars and given separate dinners—Arthur doing his best not to think about what was coming up—before being reunited in yet another fancy hotel suite.

“This might actually be _too_ nice,” Merlin said, glancing around when they were inside. “I bet it costs more to stay here one night than I pay in rent for a whole month.”

“Probably true,” Arthur said, going straight for the wine. He needed something to take the edge back off after sobering up during his dinner. He knew it was going to be difficult to get through the night knowing he was just going to have to break up with Merlin in a few days.

“Hey,” Merlin said, pulling Arthur’s glass out of his hand before he could take a drink. “You all right?”

“‘Course,” Arthur lied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. You seem… nervous.”

“I’m fine,” Arthur said. “How are you?”

Merlin considered him for a moment and then leaned closer for a kiss. He got one arm around Arthur’s back and the other around Arthur’s neck, pulling Arthur in.

“Better now,” he said when they broke apart.

Arthur held onto Merlin’s sides and closed his eyes against a wave of nausea at the thought of what would have to happen after their night together. He couldn’t let go of this. He couldn’t say goodbye to this man. He couldn’t walk away from this.

“Hey,” Merlin said again, his voice soft and low. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Arthur took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “I think I’m… falling in love with you, Merlin.”

Merlin’s breath hitched, and Arthur went in for a kiss before Merlin could respond. He didn’t need a response. He didn’t even want one. He just wanted Merlin to know how he felt. No matter how this whole thing ended up going, he wanted Merlin to know.

The kiss continued for a minute, and then a minute longer, and then Arthur was pressing Merlin against the back of the couch, trying to get as much of Merlin as he could. Merlin seemed just as desperate, if the way his tongue slid against Arthur’s and the way his fingers tucked under the waistband of Arthur’s pants were anything to go by.

“Merlin,” Arthur said, hating that they needed to pause. “Do you want to—”

“Yes.”

Arthur grinned and went in for another kiss before stepping away. He circled the couch and picked up the envelope, opening it in a rush.

“Arthur and Merlin,” he read quickly. “We hope you are enjoying your stay in beautiful Copenhagen. If you decide to forego your individual rooms, you can use this key to stay as a couple in the adjoining suite. Kilgharrah.” He looked up at Merlin. “What do you say?”

Merlin nodded, and then the crew set about taking off their mics and packing up for the night.

When they were alone, Merlin rounded the sofa and grabbed Arthur, pulling him in for a long, rough, desperate kiss.

“Fuck,” Arthur moaned as Merlin started kissing down his neck. “Merlin, we—we can’t.”

Merlin looked up, frowning. “Why not?”

“Because I’m…” Arthur’s heart started pounding his chest. “I’m not…” He sighed and ran his hands over his face. “I need a minute,” he said before escaping into the loo.

He sat down on the edge of the tub and covered his face with his hands, trying to figure out what he was doing. He needed to pick Mithian, but the thought of doing that—the thought of losing Merlin—was making him feel sick to his stomach.

Maybe Gwaine was right.

Maybe Arthur really could have what he wanted.

Or maybe he was about to make a mistake no matter what he decided.

When he came back out, he found Merlin sitting on the sofa reading over Kilgharrah’s note.

“Hey,” Arthur said as he sat down. “I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s all right,” Merlin said quietly, his eyes still on the note. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better,” Arthur admitted.

Merlin sighed and set down the note. “Look,” he said, turning to Arthur, “if you’re picking Mithian, then that’s—I mean, it’s not great for me, but I’ll live, and if you don’t want to do anything tonight—”

Arthur cut Merlin off with a hard kiss.

“I want it to be you,” he whispered.

Merlin let out a shaky breath. “But?”

“But I’m fucking terrified.”

Merlin frowned, leaning back. “Why?”

“Because I wasn’t supposed to fall for you, for any man. My father—I mean, no, it’s not on him. It’s on me. I always imagined myself ending up with a woman, but that’s just me letting him control my life, and I don’t want him to. I want… I want you, Merlin. I want to be with you. If you’ll have me, knowing that it’s not going to be the easiest thing to deal with my family and our baggage.”

Merlin blinked, and Arthur took a deep breath. He hadn’t meant to say it all quite like that.

“I don’t mind the baggage,” Merlin said after a long pause. “I don’t want to get engaged, though.”

Arthur laughed helplessly. “Of course you don’t. Who would? We barely know each other.”

“We know each other enough,” Merlin said quietly. “But I don’t want to get engaged just for the fuck of it. I didn’t think it would be me. If I had honestly thought this would be where I’d have ended up, I’m not sure I would have come on the show. I can’t agree to marry someone I’ve known for less than three months.”

“I used to feel the same way,” Arthur admitted. “Then I saw what happened between Gwen and Lance. They’re the real deal.”

“It worked for them,” Merlin said, sounding sad. “I can’t make it work for me. I’m sorry. If you still need to get engaged then you should stick with picking Mithian.”

Arthur shook his head. “No. I don’t want Mithian.”

“Then what—”

“We don’t have to get engaged. They can’t force us.”

“That’ll ruin the show.”

“Like I care. I want to be with you.” Arthur leaned forward for a kiss. “I want to be with you regardless. Fuck getting engaged. We can start a relationship. A real one, away from the cameras and all this mess.”

Merlin let out a long sigh and reached for Arthur’s hand. “Are you sure?”

“More sure than I’ve been so far this whole process.”

Slowly—painfully slowly—a smile spread out over Merlin’s face. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Arthur pulled Merlin in for a kiss. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Merlin said again.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Merlin laughed.

“Okay.”

Merlin sniggered and pulled Arthur in for a kiss. “Did you…” he trailed off, biting his lip.

“Did I what?”

Merlin shook his head. “Nevermind.”

Arthur rubbed their noses together. “Tell me.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Tell me.”

Merlin sighed and closed his eyes. “Did you tell Mithian you were choosing her?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Merlin opened his eyes. “And Gwaine?”

“Gwaine assumed I was picking you.”

“Smart cookie that one.”

“I told him I wasn’t,” Arthur admitted. “I was wrong, though.”

Merlin grinned and wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck, pulling him in for a hug. “I’m glad I changed your mind, then.”

“Me too.”

Merlin pressed a kiss to Arthur’s cheek and then another to his lips, smiling. Arthur grinned and turned over, splaying out across the couch with his head in Merlin’s lap.

“I need to tell you,” he said, reaching up to play with Merlin’s hair, “I’m serious about my dad. He won’t be happy to meet you next week. He’ll be nice to your face—at least, I hope he will—but he’s never going to be thrilled I’m dating a guy.”

“I’m sorry.”

Arthur shrugged. “It is what it is. I’m sick of letting him win. I just wanted to prepare you. My sister will love you, though.”

“Good. At least you’ll have her on your side.”

Arthur nodded and closed his eyes as Merlin started playing with his hair. He couldn’t believe he was here, in this moment with this man, when only a few hours earlier he had been fully convinced that he couldn’t have this.

“Hey,” Merlin said quietly, and Arthur struggled to open his eyes. “You fell asleep.”

Arthur groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Sorry. Panicking in the bathroom will really take a lot out of you.”

“Should we go to bed?”

Arthur nodded, knowing he didn’t have enough energy to do anything else, and they got changed and crawled into the overlarge bed.

“This is depressingly comfortable,” Merlin said as he adjusted his pillow. “Like, I might need to get a new mattress at home after this. Holy shit.”

“It’s not _that_ good,” Arthur lied, rolling onto his side and resting a hand on Merlin’s chest.

“No, it is. I don’t ever want to get up.”

“Might need to for some things,” Arthur pointed out. “Like food.”

“Food is good,” Merlin agreed around a yawn. He turned on his side and gave Arthur a kiss. “Thank you for today. And tonight. And everything else.”

Arthur wrapped an arm around Merlin’s middle, tugging him closer. “Thanks for being you.”

Merlin grinned and tucked his face against Arthur’s neck. “No problem, glad to be of service.”

Arthur chuckled and pressed a kiss to Merlin’s forehead. “You’re silly.” Merlin murmured his agreement, and Arthur fought to keep his eyes open. “Are you comfortable sleeping like this?”

“No,” Merlin mumbled. “I hate it.”

Grinning, Arthur tugged on Merlin’s hair until he lifted his head for a kiss.

“Really?”

“Nah,” Merlin said, replacing his face in Arthur’s neck immediately. “I’ll probably roll away after a while, but this is nice for now.”

Arthur yawned and drew Merlin closer, enjoying his warmth. “It is nice,” he agreed.

“Nice,” Merlin repeated. He kissed Arthur’s collar bone. “Good night.”

“Night,” Arthur murmured, allowing himself to close his eyes and drifting off quickly.

~~~~

Arthur woke up when his arm was so numb it was painful. He lifted his head with a groan and saw that it was trapped under Merlin, who had rolled onto his stomach at some point in the night. It was morning—there was ample sunlight coming in through the windows—but all Arthur wanted to do was curl up with Merlin and go back to sleep.

He didn’t want to face another Candle Ceremony. He didn’t want to have to deal with sending Gwaine home. He didn’t want to suffer though having Merlin and Mithian meet his family. He didn’t want to break up with Mithian. He didn’t want to disappoint the producers by not proposing to Merlin. He didn’t want to do any of it. He just wanted to stay in bed with Merlin.

Sitting up, Arthur pulled his arm out from under Merlin and shook it around to get the blood flowing again. Merlin grunted and rolled over, looking up at Arthur with one eye open.

“What are you doing?”

“Arm fell asleep,” Arthur explained. “Sorry.”

“How dare you,” Merlin said around a yawn. He sat up and hooked his chin over Arthur’s shoulder. “Did you sleep well?”

“Slept fucking fantastically,” Arthur said. “You were right about this bed.”

“What did I say about it?”

“That it’s comfortable.”

“Beds are meant to be comfortable.”

Arthur laughed and turned to give Merlin a kiss. “How did you sleep?”

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousally.”

“Wow. That’s… a lot.”

“It was good.”

Arthur lay back down and tugged Merlin with him. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” Merlin yawned again and pressed his face to Arthur’s chest.

Arthur wrapped an arm around Merlin’s back and closed his eyes, happy to drift back off and sleep the rest of the morning away.

Then Merlin snuck a hand under Arthur’s shirt. His fingers were cold on Arthur’s back, but Arthur didn’t mind, especially not when he changed direction and slipped his hand into Arthur’s boxers to give his arse a squeeze.

“What are you doing?”

“Hm?” Merlin played innocent even as he squeezed Arthur again.

Arthur grinned and slotted a little closer, letting Merlin carry on. Merlin gave his arse a light slap before drawing his hand out and sliding it around to Arthur’s front. He pushed it under Arthur’s shirt and traced Arthur’s muscles with his fingertips, moving up and up until he was brushing his thumb over Arthur’s nipples.

“Merlin,” Arthur whispered, suppressing a shiver.

“Hm?”

“Come here.”

Merlin lifted his head, and Arthur went in for a kiss. Merlin’s lips were warm against his own, and they eased into it, going slow until Merlin brushed his thumb across Arthur’s nipple at the same time as he bit down on Arthur’s lower lip, and Arthur let out a groan.

That spurred Merlin on, and he pushed Arthur onto his back and crawled on top of him, their hips slotting together and breaths mingling as their kiss deepened. Arthur rocked up against Merlin, enjoying the friction, until Merlin’s breathing got shallow. He had colour high on his cheeks, and his eyes were closed, and he looked blissful riding above Arthur like that.

Another few minutes of watching that and Arthur was sure to come, but he didn’t want this to be over yet. He grabbed Merlin’s sides and rolled them over so Merlin was on his back and Arthur was hovering over him.

“What are you—”

Arthur cut him off with a kiss and then worked to get them both out of their pyjamas. As soon as Merlin was naked, Arthur leaned down and started kissing around his body, learning which spots made Merlin moan and which spots made him laugh. His cock was straining, thick and hard and looking mouth-wateringly good, but Arthur ignored it in favour of learning the rest of Merlin through his lips.

“Arthur,” Merlin finally sighed, reaching down to wrap a hand around his dick.

“Nope,” Arthur said, pushing his hand away.

Merlin groaned and reached for himself again, so Arthur grabbed both his hands and held them down on the bed. Merlin’s cock jerked against nothing, seeking release, and Arthur tightened his grip on Merlin’s wrists.

“What are you doing?” Merlin asked.

“Enjoying you.”

That made Merlin flush even more somehow, and Arthur grinned and leaned down for a kiss. Merlin’s kiss was rough, hard, desperate, and Arthur loved it. He loved working Merlin up like this. He could have happily carried on for hours, but his own cock was starting to throb for attention, and he knew this moment would have to come to an end at some point.

Keeping his grip on Merlin’s wrists, Arthur kissed a trail down Merlin’s chest, down his abs, down the trail of hair under his navel.

“Arthur,” Merlin breathed, twisting his wrists in Arthur’s grip as Arthur breathed over the head of his cock. “Please.”

Arthur paused, just long enough to hear Merlin whimper, and then he sank his mouth down around the entirety of Merlin’s dick.

Merlin hissed and got his wrists free to tangle his fingers in Arthur’s hair. Arthur worked his throat, relishing in the taste and scent of Merlin so close. He wanted more—needed more—so he spread Merlin’s legs and pulled off his cock to suck on his balls.

“Jesus,” Merlin muttered, tightening his grip on Arthur’s hair.

Arthur carried on at his leisure, moving between Merlin’s dick and balls until Merlin was a moaning, trembling mess.

“Please, please,” he gasped when Arthur went back to sucking on the head of his cock.

Arthur pulled off and ducked down to lick up the seam of his balls instead.

“Arthur,” Merlin whined. “What are you doing?”

Arthur looked up at Merlin’s red, sweaty face and grinned. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

Merlin’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of question is that?”

“It’s called cock-worshiping.”

Merlin smirked, and then he burst out laughing, his body shaking under Arthur. “You’re an idiot.”

“Hey!”

Merlin sat up and pulled Arthur in for a kiss. “You like worshiping cocks?”

“Bit of a past time, yeah.”

Merlin grinned and reached for Arthur’s dick, getting in a few rough strokes before Arthur pushed his hand away.

“It’s still my turn,” he said.

“Your turn is taking too long,” Merlin decided, pushing Arthur’s shoulders down until he was lying on the bed with his head hanging off the edge and his feet near the pillows. “How do you like it?”

“What?”

Merlin wrapped his hand around Arthur’s cock again but didn’t move it. “Hard and fast? Soft and slow? Wait, why am I even asking? Of course you like it slow. Painfully slow.” Merlin grinned and pulled his hand up to the top of Arthur’s cock and then pushed it back down at a pace that left Arthur straining.

Arthur let him carry on for a while, enjoying Merlin’s version of teasing and liking the way Merlin was experimenting with different strokes until he found something that actually had Arthur panting for more.

“Please,” Arthur moaned when Merlin started moving even slower somehow.

“Please?”

Arthur lifted his head to see Merlin smiling wickedly. Before he could try to interpret that, Merlin ducked down and took Arthur’s dick into his mouth. Arthur groaned and gripped the sheets, letting his head hang off the bed again.

Luckily Merlin didn’t seem interested in a slow blowjob, and it wasn’t long before Arthur was panting and moaning and struggling to hold back.

“Merlin,” he warned when he could feel it building low in his gut. “I’m—”

“Mhm,” Merlin murmured his encouragement, his mouth stuffed full of Arthur’s cock.

“Fuck,” Arthur muttered, losing control. He struggled not to arch off the bed as his orgasm rushed through him, and Merlin sucked him through it, pulling off right when it got to be too much. “God damn,” Arthur sighed, the room swimming around him a little.

Merlin pressed his forehead to Arthur’s stomach, and Arthur could feel him panting against his clammy skin.

“Hey,” Arthur said, lifting his head.

Merlin looked up, his lips red and wet and his pupils blown wide.

Arthur sat up and pushed Merlin back down, taking his dick in his mouth without preamble.

Merlin slapped a hand over his mouth, and it didn’t take more than a minute before he was shaking and groaning into his fist, coming down Arthur’s throat with his other hand tangled in Arthur’s hair.

“Ah,” Merlin gasped when Arthur licked up his still-hard cock. “Ah, stop.”

Arthur gave one last lick, making Merlin twitch, before collapsing next to him on the bed.

“How was that?” he asked, knowing full well how it had been.

Merlin snorted. “Pretty bad. Don’t think this is going to work out, actually.”

“Yeah. You’re no prize, either.”

Merlin chuckled and turned onto his side for a kiss. Arthur pulled him close, never wanting to let go, and kissed him with everything he had.

“Well,” Merlin said when Arthur finally released him. “That’s that, then.”

Arthur grinned and pressed a kiss to the tip of Merlin’s nose. “Indeed.”

Merlin slotted closer and wrapped an arm around Arthur’s middle, and they stayed cuddled together until the producers lost patience and started knocking on the door to separate them for the rest of the day.

~~~~

Arthur spent the next two days trying his best not to panic over the prospect of ending up with Merlin. He wanted to—he well and truly wanted Merlin more than he’d ever wanted anyone else—but it was still terrifying. Especially knowing Merlin was about to meet his family.

When the Candle Ceremony finally came around, Arthur had nearly forgotten there were still two other people in the competition. And that made him feel guilty as hell, because he still had to take either Gwaine or Mithian to meet his family as well. He still had to pretend that one of them had a chance to end up with him. He still had to break up with both of them.

Arthur gave the first candle to Merlin, doing a bad job of hiding his smile when Merlin accepted it. He wished more than anything that he could just end the show right then and there and ride off with Merlin into the sunset.

But that wasn’t what he had signed up for. He had signed up for drama, and now was the time for it.

“Mithian,” he said, holding out the second and last candle. “Will you carry a torch for me?”

Mithian grinned, relieved, and gave him a hug when she came up to take her candle.

“Gwaine,” Kilgharrah said from where he was standing to the side. “I’m sorry, but you’re going home. Say your goodbyes.”

Gwaine hugged Mithian first, and then Merlin, and then finally Arthur.

“Can I walk you out?” Arthur asked.

Gwaine nodded and took Arthur’s hand as they walked out of the hotel and out to the car that would take Gwaine to the airport.

“You were right, by the way,” Arthur said, hoping that would be vague enough that it would be cut from the final edit. “Thanks for pushing me.”

Gwaine grinned and gave Arthur another hug. “I’m glad. Good luck with the rest of this.”

“Thanks. Thanks for everything. And—Gwaine?” Arthur asked as Gwaine got into the car.

“Yeah?”

“Phone Percy. You two belong together.”

Gwaine blushed, laughing, and closed the car door with a wave.

“Ready?” a producer asked as soon as the car was out of sight.

“I suppose,” Arthur said with a sigh.

“Why did you choose Gwaine to say goodbye to?” the producer prompted.

“I had to make a difficult choice tonight. I had three amazing people here, and it would have been heartbreaking to say goodbye to any one of them. It had to be Gwaine because… because I have stronger feelings for Merlin and Mithian. Gwaine’s fantastic, truly, but he wasn’t going to be the one for me. I’ve been in love before—I’ve been in this situation before—but I’m looking for something greater than that, something I’ve never experienced before. I want to feel longing, like a burning desire and missing someone when they’re not around, and I didn’t feel that with Gwaine.”

“Do you feel that for Merlin or Mithian?”

The answer to that was obvious, considering all Arthur was thinking about was his overnight date with Merlin and how much he wanted to go back to those moments, how much he wanted Merlin by his side all the time, how much he wanted to fast forward through the rest of this process so he could just be with Merlin, plain and simple.

“My relationships with Merlin and Mithian are really strong,” Arthur said. “I know I’m getting close to what I’m looking for.”

“Earlier this week, you told Merlin that you were falling in love with him. You didn’t say anything close to that to Mithian or Gwaine. Why not?”

“I told Merlin how I was feeling because the moment was right,” Arthur said, going red. “Maybe next week, Mithian and I will get the chance to tell each other how we’re feeling.”

He didn’t want that, at all, but he didn’t know how else to answer the question. He didn’t know how else to dance around the fact that he’d already made his choice.

“That’s fine,” Leon said, stepping up next to the other producer. “Ready to head to your hotel?”

Arthur nodded, grateful, and followed Leon out to the waiting car.

~~~~

The next week, everyone flew back to London to meet with Arthur’s family. Mithian went first and, as Arthur had known it would, it went swimmingly. Uther was thoroughly charmed by her, as were both Morgana and Agravaine. It was frustratingly easy, and Arthur found himself getting more and more agitated as the night went on, knowing it wasn’t going to be nearly as good once they met Merlin.

“Hey,” Morgana said, nudging him with her elbow during dessert. “Come talk?”

Arthur shrugged and let her take him down into his woodshed in his dad’s basement. They were followed by two cameramen, a sound guy, and two producers, including Leon. Morgana seemed surprised that they would bother with their conversation, but Arthur knew better. He hadn’t had a moment of peace in weeks outside of the overnight dates, and it wasn’t going to stop until the series was completely finished.

“Are you all right?” Morgana asked as Arthur plopped himself down on a stool. “You seem not especially happy to be here.”

“I’m happy,” Arthur lied. “What do you think about Mithian?”

“She’s a delight. What do _you_ think about Mithian.”

“She’s a delight,” Arthur repeated, trying his best to sound upbeat and genuine. “She’s wonderful. I’m glad you’re all getting a chance to meet her.”

Morgana glanced over at the cameras, probably realising Arthur wasn’t in a position to say how he really felt.

“I’m glad, too,” she said. “I just want you to be happy. Does she make you happy?”

Arthur nodded. “She does,” he said, and it wasn’t a lie.

“I can imagine this is stressful,” she said quietly. “Dating so many people. Juggling all those emotions and priorities and relationships.”

Arthur nodded again, and Morgana hugged him.

“Thanks,” he said, giving her a tight squeeze.

Morgana kissed his forehead and then led him back upstairs to where Uther was entertaining Mithian with stories of Arthur’s childhood. Knowing that it was expected, especially after speaking with his sister, Arthur took his dad aside to talk.

They wound up in the kitchen, and Uther helped himself to the crumbs left on the cheese plate he’d served earlier in the evening.

“Mithian’s perfect,” he said, getting straight to it. “She’s a smart match and a wonderful girl. You’ve done well.”

“There’s still another person—”

“Yes, yes,” Uther said dismissively. He knew Arthur’s other relationship was with a man, and it was clear he wasn’t looking forward to meeting Merlin. “But Mithian’s special. You can have a future with her—a wife, some kids, a house, a life.”

“She is special,” Arthur agreed.

Uther considered him for a moment. “What’s bothering you? What are your hesitations?”

“I don’t have any,” Arthur said honestly, although he wasn’t talking about Mithian.

Uther didn’t seem to notice, though, because he smiled widely. “Good. Glad to hear it.” He clapped Arthur on the back and returned to the living room.

Arthur loitered in the kitchen for a moment, trying to reset himself and prepare for saying good night to Mithian. When he went back to the living room, Mithian was standing near the bookshelves with Morgana, looking at the framed photographs Uther had decorated with.

“Hey,” he said, walking up beside Mithian and wrapping an arm around her back. “Ready?”

Mithian nodded and the goodbyes were long and drawn out as she bid farewell to Morgana and Agravaine and Uther. No one seemed to want her to leave, and she didn’t seem to want to leave, either.

Arthur was ready for the night to be over, though, so eventually he managed to get her out the front door.

“Your family’s amazing,” she said as they stood in the drive. “Your sister especially.”

“She’s great,” Arthur agreed. “I’m glad you all got along.”

“Me, too. I think our dads would like each other.”

Arthur nodded, sure that that would be true if they ever met.

“Thanks for having me,” Mithian said, uncertain in Arthur’s silence.

“Of course,” Arthur said, forcing himself to snap out of it. “I’m glad you came.” He kissed her gently, and Mithian wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss.

Arthur allowed it for a moment, but then he had to break away. He used the excuse of escorting her to the car that would take her to her hotel room.

“Have a good night,” he said, leaning into the car to give her one last kiss. Then he closed the door and watched the car drive off, wondering which circle of hell he’d get into for leading her on like this.

~~~~

The next night, Merlin came other to Uther’s house to meet Arthur’s family. It was, as Arthur had known it would be, painfully awkward. Uther was polite but cold. Agravaine was aggressively neutral, clearly not wanting to cross Uther. Only Morgana was genuinely nice to Merlin, and Arthur leaned on her to get through the evening without incident.

“Shall we?” Morgana asked when they reached dessert again.

Arthur had no desire to leave Merlin alone with his father and his uncle, but he knew the producers were expecting him to talk to Morgana again, so he followed her into her old bedroom.

“I like Merlin,” she said as she shut the door after the crew was inside. “You clearly like him, too.”

Arthur nodded, sighing. “I do. I really, _really_ do, Morgana.”

Silence fell between them, and Arthur knew they were both thinking the same thing—that Uther wouldn’t be happy.

“I support whatever decision you make,” Morgana said tactfully. “Dad will, too.” That was a lie, but Arthur took it for what it was—a promise that Morgana would be on his side regardless. “And Uncle Agravaine. We want you to be happy. You deserve that after all this.”

“Thank you,” Arthur said quietly. “I want to be happy, too.”

Morgana hugged him tightly, whispering, “I love you. Make the right choice for you,” as she did so.

Arthur nodded and hurried to get back to the living room. He expected to find everyone sitting in awkward silence, but what he found instead was Merlin and Uther laughing over some joke Agravaine had just told. It looked like they had fared well on their own, and Arthur felt a swell of gratitude towards his uncle for stepping in to keep the peace.

“Dad?” he asked, putting a hand on Uther’s shoulder. “Can we talk?”

“Of course.” Uther stood and followed Arthur into the kitchen.

“Well?” Arthur asked, bracing himself.

“Merlin’s very nice,” Uther said mildly. His expression was kind, and Arthur knew he was just putting on a show for the cameras. “I can see why you like him.”

“Yeah. I do. Like him, I mean. I like him a lot.”

Uther nodded, his smile wavering.

“I need to know,” Arthur said, wishing they could just have one moment alone, “that you’ll be behind whatever choice I make.”

“Arthur—”

“No,” Arthur interrupted. “Whatever choice I make. I know what you want, but it might not be the same as what I want, and I need to know you’re not going to hate me over this.”

“I could never hate you,” Uther said quietly. He sounded sincere. “Arthur, you’re my son. I love you. I want—I just want what’s best for you.”

“What if what I think is best is different than what you want?”

“I’ll support you either way,” Uther promised. “I want you to be happy. I can see that Merlin makes you happy.”

Arthur nodded. “He does.”

Uther sighed. “Well. Then I imagine I’ll be seeing him again.”

Arthur shrugged, remembering the cameras. “Maybe. You’d be okay with that, though?”

Uther nodded, and Arthur hugged him tightly. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Of course.” Uther patted Arthur’s back. “I’m here for you, son.”

Arthur gave him a squeeze before stepping back. They looked at each other for a moment, and Arthur wondered if they ever could have had such a calm moment of agreement if the cameras hadn’t been there to keep Uther in check.

He supposed it didn’t matter. Uther had given his blessing, and that was all Arthur could have hoped for.

He went back out to the living room and pulled Merlin away from Morgana, regretfully announcing that their evening had come to a close.

“It was so nice meeting you, Merlin,” Morgana said, hugging him. “I hope to see you again.”

Merlin grinned as she stepped back. “Thanks. I hope to see you again, too.” He turned and shook Agravaine’s hand. He went to shake Uther’s as well, but Uther, to everyone’s surprise, pulled him in for a hug.

“It’s good meeting you,” he said gruffly as he pulled away. “Take care of Arthur, yeah?”

Merlin nodded, looking a little stunned. “Yeah. I mean, yes. Thank you. It was good meeting you, too.”

Uther nodded, and Arthur grabbed Merlin’s arm and escorted him outside before things could get any weirder.

“Your dad’s nice,” Merlin said when they were standing by his car. “He’s funny.”

“He’s…” Arthur trailed off, not sure what to say.

“And your sister,” Merlin continued, saving him. “She’s wonderful.”

“She liked you a lot,” Arthur said. He leaned in for a kiss, cupping Merlin’s face. “I like you a lot, too.”

Merlin grinned and went in for another, playful kiss. “I guess I like you, too.”

Their kiss lingered for a moment and Arthur held Merlin tighter.

“I need to tell you something,” Merlin whispered.

“Okay.”

“What you said the other night, about… about falling in love with me.”

Arthur pulled back a little, wanting to be able to look Merlin full in the face. “Yeah? I meant it.”

“I know.” Merlin looked nervous. “Me, too. But… more.”

“More?”

“More. I’m… I’m there. I’m in love with you. I love you.”

Arthur grinned and kissed Merlin with everything he had. “Thank you,” he whispered when he finally pulled back. “Thank you for tonight.”

“Thank you,” Merlin said, wrapping his arms around Arthur’s back. “I had a good time. Really.”

Arthur pressed a kiss to Merlin’s cheek and then let him get into the car. “I’ll see you soon,” he promised before closing the door.

“Arthur,” Leon flagged Merlin over before the car had even fully pulled out of the drive. “Should I assume from all that you’ve made your choice?”

Arthur shrugged. “I don’t know, Leon, what do you think?” He didn’t want to argue.

Leon raised an eyebrow. “I think it looks like you’ve chosen Merlin.”

Arthur sighed and shrugged again. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I want you to be honest,” Leon said, smiling. “Gwen had made her choice by this time last series. It’s perfectly fine. I just want to make sure you’re doing okay. I know this is where it gets really hard.”

“I’m doing okay,” Arthur confirmed. “I’m… I’m picking Merlin. And I guess I should go ahead and tell you now that we’re not getting engaged.”

Leon’s smile fell. “What do you mean?”

“I mean we’re not getting engaged. I’m not proposing. We don’t want to jump into it that fast.”

“Then what are you planning to do?”

“I’ll give him my last candle,” Arthur said simply. “And we’ll go home and try to have a normal relationship.”

Leon sighed but nodded. “Yeah. I supposed we can’t ask for much more considering what you’ve given us already.”

“No,” Arthur agreed. “I’ve made history here. Just let me end this the way I want.”

Leon nodded again. “Yeah. Well. Ready for a quick interview?”

Arthur nodded and turned toward the nearest camera. “It was a relief that Merlin got on so well with my family,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how it would go, to be honest. I’ve never introduced a boyfriend to my family before, only girlfriends. It went well, and I have Merlin to thank for that. He was brilliant, and I’m really happy my family was able to see that.”

That was as much of the truth as Arthur was willing to share.

~~~~

The next week, Arthur flew to Helsinki for the final round of dates.

Mithian went first, and Arthur took her to an outdoor market where they went souvenir shopping. Arthur tried to keep things light and easy, but Mithian kept giving him these looks and smiles that just made him squirm with the knowledge that he was about to break her heart.

As they were heading to a cathedral tour for the second half of their date, Mithian pulled Arthur into an alley and gave him a long, hungry kiss.

“Mithian,” Arthur whispered when she pulled back, unable to take it anymore.

“Arthur,” she said, smiling.

Arthur licked his lips and took a step back, hating himself. “Mithian, I can’t do this anymore.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, oblivious.

“This.” Arthur gestured around Helsinki and then between them. “I can’t. I’m not going to be proposing to you. I’m so sorry.”

He watched as realisation dawned over Mithian’s face. Her smile fell and her shoulders tensed.

“You’re… breaking up with me. You’re ending this.”

“I’m so sorry,” Arthur said again. “I enjoyed every moment with you, but—”

“You’re picking Merlin.”

Arthur nodded.

A long stretch of silence fell between them, and Arthur wished there was anything he could say to make it better.

“I guess I’m not surprised,” Mithian said finally. “I saw this coming. I just tried to convince myself I was wrong.”

“You weren’t wrong,” Arthur said quietly. “You’re a smart girl.” He sighed and reached out for one of her hands. “I wanted it to be you. I thought it would be.”

“It’s all right,” she said sadly. “It’s very obvious that Merlin makes you happy.”

“You made me happy, too,” Arthur said truthfully. “I’m sorry this has to end.”

Mithian took her hand back. “It does, though. I’d like to leave.”

Arthur nodded and pulled her in for one last hug. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I know you’ll be happy with him.”

Arthur couldn’t make himself watch as she walked away and over to the producers to arrange a ride back to the hotel. He stared out over the city instead, wishing Merlin were there with him instead.

“Arthur?” Leon called him over when Mithian was gone. “Are you ready?”

Arthur shook his head but began speaking to the camera anyway. “I just said goodbye to Mithian. I had incredible excitement about her, and so much optimism and so much hope. But I had to let her go because I feel more strongly about Merlin. That doesn’t change the fact that Mithian’s an incredible woman with an incredible heart, and it’s hard to let go of that. I’ll miss her. I’ll miss her a lot.”

He was allowed back to his hotel room after that, and Arthur spent the night alone, wishing he could fast forward through time and just be with Merlin. He had survived the long ordeal of _Most Eligible_, and he was ready for the next step. He was ready to go home and live his normal life and start a normal relationship with the man he loved.

~~~~

In the morning, the time finally came for Arthur and Merlin’s final single date.

They went on a walking trail around a fortress, talking easily about anything and nothing. It was easy, and it was fun, and it was everything Arthur wanted for his last day on the show.

“Not to complain,” Merlin said as their trail reached the Gulf of Finland, “but I’m a bit hungry.”

“Me, too,” Arthur said, and he led Merlin over to a spot on the shore where the producers had set up a picnic for them. “Luckily I’ve planned for that.”

Merlin grinned and gave Arthur a kiss before sitting down and digging into a sandwich. Arthur followed, and it didn’t take long for them to scarf down the entire picnic.

“That was good,” Merlin declared, leaning back and rubbing his belly.

Arthur lay down with his head in Merlin’s lap. “Very good,” he agreed.

Merlin grinned and leaned down for a kiss. “What’s next on the agenda?”

“More walking, if you like. Or you could go back to the hotel until tonight.”

That night was the Final Candle Ceremony, where the Leading Man usually broke up with his runner-up and proposed to his winner. Arthur had already ended things with Mithian, though, and he wasn’t planning to get down on one knee in front of Merlin just yet, so it was going to be a low-key, low-drama event.

“We can keep walking,” Merlin decided. “I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.”

Arthur sat up for a kiss and then pulled Merlin to his feet so they could circle back around the other side of the fortress.

Despite moving as slowly as they could, eventually they returned to the beginning of the trail and were separated for the rest of the afternoon so they could get ready for that evening.

Arthur went back to his hotel room and took a long shower, ready for the process to come to a close and ready to go back to London to begin dating Merlin properly.

He remembered what it had been like at this point on Gwen’s season. He had been so nervous, so desperate to find out what was going to happen next. He’d been tentatively ready to start his life with someone else, but now he was sure. He knew he was meant to be with Merlin, and that reality was only a few short hours away.

After some time by himself—no cameras or anything—there was a knock on Arthur’s door and he opened it to let in the crew. They filmed him getting dressed and eating his dinner, and then he obliged in a few interviews.

“Merlin doesn’t know that Mithian’s already gone,” Arthur said when Leon prompted him to talk about his plans for the night. That didn’t change the fact that Merlin already knew what the outcome was going to be, but the insinuation was that he was going to be surprised by it. “We did talk about what would happen if it was him at the end, though. Neither of us want to rush into an engagement, so I don’t think I’ll be proposing. I’m just excited to get home and start living my life again with Merlin at my side.”

It was a relief to finally get to talk about how he really felt, now that Merlin was the only one left and the mystery was gone.

“Tell us more about how you feel about him,” Leon prompted, and Arthur blushed for some reason.

“He’s everything I could have hoped for,” he said. “We have a lot in common, and we like doing the same things. I’m looking forward to going on bike rides with him, and I want to go with him to a glassblowing class. I’m just excited to spend more time with him. He’s so much fun to be around, and he’s so kind and… and he’s never judged me. He’s only ever been supportive through this process, even when he was still asking for what he needed, and I want someone like that in my life. Someone who isn’t afraid to go after what they want, but also someone who won’t hurt others along the way. I can’t say what the future will hold for us, but I’m incredibly excited to find out.”

“Do you love him?” Leon asked.

“I…” Arthur swallowed heavily. “I love him,” he said, and the words felt right. “I love him.”

Leon grinned and hugged Arthur to end the interview. “I’m happy for you,” he said. “Go get him.”

Arthur laughed and followed Leon out of his room and down to the beach where there was a Candle Ceremony set up. There was only one candle on the small round table, flickering weakly in the wind.

“Ready?” Leon asked, and Arthur nodded. Leon headed off, saying something into his walkie talkie and leaving Arthur alone.

A moment later, a helicopter landed nearby and Merlin hopped out, looking windswept. He was wearing the nicest suit Arthur had seen him wear all series, and he was grinning like a fool.

“Hey,” he shouted to be heard over the whirr of the helicopter. He made his way over to the table and took Arthur’s hands in his.

“Hey,” Arthur said, more quietly as the helicopter took off again, leaving them alone with the crew. “You look good.”

“You look incredible.” Merlin said, spreading Arthur’s arms out so he could have a good look. “Blue’s definitely your colour.”

Arthur grinned and pulled Merlin in for a kiss. “Are you ready?”

“I don’t know,” Merlin said, doing a good job of looking nervous. “Am I?”

“I am.”

“I guess we should do this, then.”

Arthur gave him another kiss before stepping back and taking a deep breath. “Merlin,” he started. “I knew there was something special about you from the first moment I saw you. You nearly fell on your face getting out of that limo on the first night, and you caught my attention right away.”

Merlin laughed, blushing, and Arthur reached for one of his hands again.

“Throughout this journey, you’ve been nothing but kind to me. Even when I was cold to you, you were there, steady and real and patient. You let me take my time, you let me have my drama, and you let me be myself.”

He could see tears welling up in Merlin’s eyes, and he felt his own throat starting to close up.

“I want to be with you,” he said, his voice tight. “Hopefully forever, and definitely for the foreseeable future. If you’ll have me.”

Merlin nodded, grinning.

Arthur reached for the candle with his free hand. “I’m carrying a torch for you,” he said. “One much bigger and brighter than this one. Will you carry a torch for me?”

“The Olympic torch,” Merlin affirmed, taking the candle. He wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck and sniffed a little. “Thank you.”

Arthur put the candle back on the table. “I love you, Merlin.”

Merlin laughed and wiped his eyes before giving Arthur a long kiss. “I love you, too.”

They kissed again and then again, and then the crew was on them, wrapping them both in hugs and cheering.

When the party broke up, Merlin and Arthur stood near the table for their final interview.

“Tell us how you feel!” Leon shouted from beside the camera. He looked giddy.

Arthur laughed and wrapped his arm around Merlin’s back. “I’m so happy,” he said, and it was true. He couldn’t stop smiling. “I’ve got Merlin by my side, and I’m ready for anything.”

“Anything?” Merlin teased. “I think all we’re doing is going home.”

“Anything,” Arthur affirmed. “Including going home.”

Merlin laughed and Arthur pulled him in for a kiss.

“All right, all right,” Leon said, laughing. “Get out of here.”

“Gladly,” Arthur said, and he took Merlin’s hand and led him over to the car that would return them back to Arthur’s hotel.

~~~~

After another night together in Arthur’s room, Merlin and Arthur were flown back to London where they had to go back to their separate lives until the series finished airing.

Arthur found it to be somewhat of a relief to be home, although he would have enjoyed it more if he could have just been with Merlin like a normal couple. He didn’t like having to hide the outcome of the series, and he didn’t like being without Merlin, especially since they lived in the same city. It should have been so easy for them to go to each other’s flats, to go out to dinner together, to go to the cinema, to go bike riding. But they had to keep to their separate lives to avoid spoilers.

They texted a lot, though. They video chatted nearly every evening, usually while Arthur was making dinner and then late into the night. Sometimes they got naughty with it, but mostly they just talked. They talked about their days, their jobs, their dreams from the night before, what they were doing to keep themselves busy as the series aired, all the interviews Arthur was giving, how odd it was to be somewhat famous. They talked about everything, anything, and it was so easy.

Besides the part where they couldn’t really see each other, it was perfect, and Arthur knew he’d made the right choice. He couldn’t wait until they were able to just be together and do things and live their lives together, hopefully for years to come.

The show did set up a few weekends for them to be together, with Merlin being secretly shuttled over to Arthur’s block of flats, and Arthur tried to take advantage of every second they had together in person.

“Hey,” he said when Merlin appeared at his flat during their second weekend together. “How was the trip?”

“Short,” Merlin laughed. “You’re still an idiot.”

“Fork…can…”

Merlin’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“I forgot how you say ‘rude’ in Swedish.”

“Oh,” Merlin said, laughing. “Me, too, but I’m pretty sure it’s not ‘fork can’.”

“Whatever.” Arthur pulled Merlin in for a hug. “I missed you.”

“Missed you, too.”

“Did you like the photos I sent?”

Merlin smirked. “You know I liked them.”

“Yeah?” Arthur slid a hand down to Merlin’s arse. “Which one was your favourite?”

“The one of you—” Merlin gasped a little as Arthur squeezed his arse at the same time as he started sucking on Merlin’s neck. “Fingering yourself,” he finished with a sigh.

“Yeah?” Arthur licked up to Merlin’s ear. “I like that one, too. I was thinking of you.”

“You’d better have been.”

Arthur grinned and nipped at Merlin’s earlobe before stepping back. “Do you want to?”

“Finger you?”

“Fuck me.”

Merlin grabbed Arthur’s face, pulling him back in for a kiss. “Fuck yes.”

They had stuck with blowjobs so far, but Arthur was getting impatient, and he was relieved that Merlin was on the same page. He took Merlin’s hand and led him to the bedroom, not wanting to bother with any more small talk.

Merlin pushed Arthur against the door, closing it behind them as they kissed and tried to get each other out of their clothes.

“Get… naked,” Arthur grunted as he struggled to unto Merlin’s belt.

Merlin laughed and took a step back to undo it. He stripped the rest of the way quickly, Arthur following suit, and then Arthur pushed Merlin down on the bed.

“Missed you,” he said again, getting a hand around Merlin’s dick.

Merlin arched into his touch. “God, yeah. Those photos were such a fucking tease.”

“Will you send me some?”

Merlin flushed but nodded. “Yeah. What do you want?”

“Anything,” Arthur said. “Just want to be able to see you.”

Merlin smiled and went in for a hard kiss as he reached for Arthur’s cock. They jerked each other off for a while until Arthur couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are you going to fuck me or what?” he asked, tightening his grip on Merlin’s dick.

Merlin gasped against his lips, rocking into his hand. “Yeah,” he breathed. “Yeah.”

Arthur chuckled and pulled his hand away. “Get on with it then.”

“Fork can.”

Arthur grinned and kissed Merlin as he straddled Arthur. Their cocks brushed together and Arthur moaned, lifting his hips. Merlin thrust against him for a second, but then he slid down Arthur’s body, spread his legs, and started licking around his arse.

“Fuck,” Arthur moaned as his cock jerked. “Merlin.”

Merlin murmured his agreement, still licking around Arthur’s overstimulated nerves. Arthur’s dick twitched, and he reached for it, needing to take the edge off.

“No,” Merlin said without moving his mouth away. He grabbed Arthur’s hand and laced their fingers together, away from Arthur’s cock.

Arthur groaned and moved both his hands to Merlin’s hair instead. After another minute, Merlin pressed a spit-slick finger into his arse, and Arthur’s hips arched off the bed.

“Yeah,” he moaned as Merlin crooked his finger. “Like that.”

Merlin continued licking around where his finger was joined with Arthur’s body, and after another minute he added a second finger.

“Come on,” Arthur said, sick of not having Merlin’s cock inside him. “Hurry up.”

Merlin chuckled and lifted his head. “You ready?”

Arthur nodded and rolled out from under Merlin to get condoms and lube out of his bedside table.

“Did you make that?” Merlin asked, nodding at the table as he got on the condom.

“Yeah.” Arthur covered two of his fingers in lube and pressed them inside himself, stretching himself further.

“It’s nice.”

“Thanks. Let’s talk about it more.”

Merlin smirked and pulled Arthur’s hand away from his arse, lining up his cock instead. “Very good craftsmanship,” he commented before pushing in.

Arthur grunted and lifted his hips, adjusting the angle.

“Excellent joins.”

“Why do you know what a join is?” Arthur asked, breathless as Merlin slid the rest of the way in.

“Might have looked it up.”

“Weirdo.”

“Fork can.”

“Come on,” Arthur said, wrapping his legs around Merlin’s waist. “Fork me.”

Merlin grinned and leaned down for a kiss as he started moving his hips. Arthur dug his heels into Merlin’s arse, guiding the rhythm, and it wasn’t long before his cock was jerking and leaking between them.

“Yeah,” Arthur moaned when Merlin started nailing him harder. “That’s—_oh, God_,” he whimpered as Merlin adjusted the angle and started fucking against his prostate.

Merlin groaned in response and smashed his lips against Arthur’s in a rough kiss.

“Not yet, not yet,” Arthur managed when Merlin reached for his dick.

Merlin groaned again and started moving faster and a little more erratically. Arthur could tell he was getting close. Arthur was close, too, but he wanted this to go on for so much longer. If that wasn’t possible, then he at least wanted to get the orgasm fucked out of him.

“Pillow,” Arthur said, shifting up on his elbows.

Merlin pulled out, and Arthur dropped back down on the bed and tried to catch his breath. Merlin was an incredible fuck.

“Up,” Merlin instructed when he shifted back over with a pillow.

Arthur lifted his hips so Merlin could fit the pillow under his arse.

“Good?” Merlin asked.

Arthur nodded and reached for Merlin’s cock, lining it up and lifting his hips in encouragement. Merlin pushed forward and Arthur gasped at the extra pressure on his prostate.

“Yeah like, that,” he said, his voice tight as Merlin picked up speed again. “So fucking good.” He grabbed onto Merlin’s arms and dug his fingers into his biceps, trying to hold on and hold back.

Merlin gripped Arthur’s legs, using them as leverage as he continued thrusting in.

“Fuck,” Arthur breathed when his thighs started shaking. “Oh, fuck, _fuck_—” The shaking spread to his core, and he hovered on the edge for a long moment, his breath caught in his throat, until Merlin thrust in just right and Arthur tipped over and came.

“Holy shit,” Merlin moaned before bucking and coming, his hips slapping against Arthur’s arse.

Arthur reached for his dick, pulling loosely on it as Merlin continued fucking him through his own orgasm.

“Oh my God,” Merlin gasped, pulling out and collapsing next to Arthur.

Arthur murmured his agreement. He kicked the pillow out from under him and flopped limply down on the bed, thoroughly satisfied.

Merlin pulled off the condom and tied up the end before dropping it into Arthur’s bin. He turned onto his side and gave Arthur a long kiss. “Good?”

Arthur grinned and nipped at Merlin’s chin. “Fucking fantastic. You up to do it again after dinner?”

Merlin chuckled and gave Arthur a sweet kiss. “I’m up for anything.”

“Up for a shower?” Arthur asked, looking down at the mess on his chest.

“How can you possibly have the energy to move?”

“I don’t. But I don’t want this to dry.”

Merlin laughed and sat up, pulling Arthur with him. “Shower, then,” he agreed.

~~~~

_Most Eligible_ aired its series finales live, the series footage intermingled with studio interviews, which meant that Merlin and Arthur had one last night with the show.

They stayed backstage for most of it, listening to the live studio audience react to the stories the producers had put together about Arthur’s final days on the show. They went through Mithian and Merlin meeting Arthur’s family, Mithian’s final date, and then Merlin’s final date and the last Candle Ceremony.

“You look nervous,” Arthur said, brushing his hands over Merlin’s carefully styled hair.

“Are you not?” Merlin asked.

Arthur shook his head. “All we have to do is go out and tell Kilgharrah how happy we are together. It’s simple.”

Merlin shrugged and adjusted his cufflinks for the fourth time in the last hour. “I’m bad with interviews, haven’t you been watching the show?”

Arthur chuckled and pulled Merlin in for a kiss. “You’ll do fine.”

Merlin took a deep breath, and they heard the show come back from an advert break. The very last of the finale was shown—Merlin weepily accepting Arthur’s final candle—and then Kilgharrah called them on stage.

“For their first appearance as a couple, please welcome Arthur and Merlin!”

Arthur gave Merlin another kiss before taking his hand and leading him out into the studio. The audience was on its feet, cheering and clapping as they took they their seats on a sofa opposite Kilgharrah’s large armchair.

“Welcome,” Kilgharrah said as the audience settled down. “Welcome! How are you both?”

“Good,” Arthur said when it looked like Merlin was freezing up. “We’re excited to be here. Excited to be able to be here together.”

“Yes, you’ve been in hiding,” Kilgharrah teased. “How has it been since filming ended?”

Arthur glanced over at Merlin, and Merlin swallowed heavily before responding.

“It’s been good,” he said, his voice quiet but clear. “Difficult, since we haven’t been able to spend as much time together as we would have liked, but the time we’ve had has been good.”

“What’s it been like tonight, watching everything back for the first time since it all happened?”

“Surreal,” Arthur said. “You don’t normally get to watch all your life’s pivotal moments back on tape.”

Kilgharrah nodded. “And can you tell us more about what it was like for you in those final days? How did you come to decide that you wanted to be with Merlin?”

“I couldn’t get him out of my head,” Arthur said. “Every time I was next to him, I didn’t want the moment to end. I’d been falling in love with him for a while, but I’d been fighting it. I’d been fighting it pretty hard, I was in a lot of denial. But eventually I realised there wasn’t any point. I knew he was who I was meant to end up with, so I stopped fighting it, and that got me here.”

Arthur reached out and gave Merlin’s hand a squeeze, and Merlin smiled softly at him. The audience ‘aww’ed, and Arthur blushed a little.

“We all watched your family meeting both Mithian and Merlin,” Kilgharrah said next, moving into the more serious questions. “Despite your preferences at the time, it seemed like your family preferred Mithian. In fact, we got to watch you and your father have quite a moment where he promised to support you no matter—maybe even in despite of—your final choice. What has it been like with your family since that night?”

“They’ve been normal,” Arthur answered honestly. “We’re having dinner with my dad and my sister next week, actually. They all loved Mithian—I mean, why wouldn’t they? But they loved Merlin as well. I think I was nervous they wouldn’t, which is why it felt a lot more dramatic. But they’re happy for us.”

“What made you so nervous?” Kilgharrah asked.

“I was worried… I was worried about how they would react seeing with me another man. I mentioned on the show that I’d never introduced a boyfriend to them before. I think I built it up in my head as a much bigger moment than it ended up being. They were great with it, great with Merlin. It was all very normal, in the end. Kind of anti-climactic, even.”

“And Merlin,” Kilgharrah said. “Arthur mentioned you two had talked about what would happen if he chose you at the end. I assume this was during the overnight dates when you two were alone, away from the cameras.”

Merlin nodded.

“He said you two had decided not to get engaged. What held you back?”

“I wasn’t sure,” Merlin said, his voice still quiet. “It felt too big. I knew I loved Arthur, even then, but it was too soon, too new. I was too caught up in the drama of it—of Arthur being in other relationships. I didn’t want to rush into it. I was scared.”

“And how are you feeling now? Are there any plans for engagement in the future?”

“Not yet,” Arthur answered quickly. “We’re just—”

“Actually,” Merlin said, and Arthur turned to see him pulling a ring box out of his pocket. There was a loud group gasp from the audience.

“Merlin,” Arthur said, dumbstruck.

“Arthur,” Merlin said, smiling nervously. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“I’m—wow, yeah, you’ve done it. I’m surprised.”

Merlin gave Arthur a kiss before sliding off the sofa and getting onto one knee. Arthur stayed on the sofa, unsure what to do, overwhelmed that this was happening here, now, in front of everyone, without any advance notice.

“I nearly fell on my face the first time I saw you,” Merlin said, and Arthur laughed along with the audience. “I couldn’t believe you were real, standing in front of me like that. You looked so gorgeous, so out of my league, so perfect. I’ve gotten to know you since then, and I still think you’re gorgeous, out of my league, and perfect. Maybe not perfect in the traditional sense—no one is perfect—but perfect for me. You’re silly, and you’re kind, and you care. I need you in my life. These last few weeks, as sparse as they’ve been, have shown that to me. I was ready back in Helsinki, I just didn’t realise it. I realise it now, though. I know it now. I want to spend my life with you.”

He opened the box, and Arthur looked down at the silver band sitting inside of it.

“Will you marry me?” Merlin asked.

Arthur nodded. “Yes. Of course. Of course I’ll marry you.” His heart was swelling, there were tears in his eyes, and he couldn’t believe how happy he was.

Merlin slipped the ring onto Arthur’s hand and then stood, pulling Arthur with him. They kissed, and the audience got back on its feet to cheer them on.

“How’s that for a surprise ending?” Kilgharrah asked, shouting over the applause. “That’s it’s for tonight! Thank you to Arthur, thank you to Merlin, congratulations to them both. We’ll see you next series with our new Leading Lady—Elena!”

Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin, holding him close and protecting their moment just a bit longer before they had to pull apart from each other.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you more,” Merlin said. “Thank you for saying yes.”

“Thank you for asking,” Arthur said. “It would have taken me a long time to even bring it up again.”

“I know. That’s why I did it. Plus they paid for your ring. And mine.”

“You have a ring?” Arthur asked, glancing down at Merlin’s hands.

“Later,” Merlin said, finally turning away and embracing Kilgharrah.

Arthur did the same, and they stood near the sofa for a while, accepting congratulations from their friends on the crew and in the audience. Elena was there, as well as Gwaine and Percy, and even Vivian had made an appearance. Gwen and Lance were there, happy as ever, and they gave Arthur and Merlin an invitation to their upcoming wedding.

By the time they were left alone again, nearly an hour had passed.

“That was exhausting,” Merlin said as Arthur led him backstage. “I need a nap.”

“Too late for a nap,” Arthur pointed out. “Might as well just go to bed.”

“Definitely not going to bed,” Merlin said, giving Arthur a wink.

Arthur laughed and pulled Merlin in for a kiss. “You’d better keep that promise.”

“Don’t think I promised anything. There was something in my eye.”

Arthur smirked and kissed Merlin’s eyelids before stepping back. “Do you want to go back to yours?”

Merlin nodded and led the way outside to get a cab. When they were inside Merlin’s flat, Arthur pushed him back against the door for a long kiss.

“I can’t believe you did that,” he said, barely pulling back from the kiss. “What made you decide to?”

“You did,” Merlin said simply. “I realised I didn’t want to spend a single day of the rest of my life without you.”

Arthur grinned. “And what’s this about another ring?”

“I got one for me, too. I told them you’d insist.”

“Why’d you do that?”

“Because I wanted one,” Merlin said with a grin. He stepped away and went into his room for a moment, coming back out with a second ring box. “Do you want to do the honours?” he asked, holding it out.

Arthur laughed and took the box, wondering how he had gotten so lucky. “Merlin,” he said, getting down on one knee. “I’ve already agreed to marry you, so I’m not sure what the point of this is, but I guess it would be rather fork can of me to refuse you. Will you marry me?”

Merlin laughed and pulled Arthur back to his feet. “I’ll marry you, you idiot.”

Arthur grinned and pushed the ring up Merlin’s finger. “It’s a perfect fit,” he declared. “How did I know your ring size?”

Merlin sniggered and pulled Arthur in for a kiss. “Stop talking.”

“Make me.”

“Maybe I will.”

“Maybe you—” Merlin cut Arthur off with another kiss, and Arthur pushed Merlin back against the wall, deepening the kiss as he leaned in close to his fiancé.

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't, please leave some love for Merlocked18 at the art post: <https://archiveofourown.org/works/20529353>

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [ART: A Single Man in Possession of a Good Fortune](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20529353) by [Merlocked18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlocked18/pseuds/Merlocked18), [SlantedKnitting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlantedKnitting/pseuds/SlantedKnitting)


End file.
